I have a feeling that I might have things thrown at me for this review. I didn’t hate the book, but I also can’t sing its praises like many reviewers seem to be doing. All I ask is please give me a head start before you start lobbing debris in my direction. The Desert Spear…
Continue ReadingFrom Publishers Weekly: Starred Review. Religion and political intrigue turn an adolescent werewolf into a killing machine in this compelling novel of 13th-century Northern Europe. Eighteen-year-old Lilly is superhumanly strong, vulnerable only to silver and trained to help Christians subdue unrepentant pagans. When she slaughters a dozen Christian soldiers and flees into the wilderness, Uldolf,…
Continue ReadingFrom Publishers Weekly: Tchaikovsky returns to the caste-haunted insect-themed world of 2010’s Empire in Black and Gold, as the inapt kinden realize that their natural gifts and old knowledge are no longer sufficient to allow them to dominate their apt cousins, who can use technology. The Wasp kinden have been slowly conquering the land for three…
Continue ReadingFrom Publishers Weekly: In this delightful first novel, the opening salvo of a trilogy, Novik seamlessly blends fantasy into the history of the Napoleonic wars. Here be dragons, beasts that can speak and reason, bred for strength and speed and used for aerial support in battle. Each nation has its own breeds, but none are so…
Continue ReadingI really enjoy Marillier’s writing. I think the book itself is written well, the concept is engrossing. I thought the characters were a little bland. Toward the end, the main character really grated on my nerves with her nearly constant weeping. Without giving too much away I will say the characterization is what bothered me…
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