Spoiler warning! I found it impossible to review this book without revealing plot details that would probably be considered spoilery, so if you like to start a book without knowing much, probably skip this review. Also, this book is a PREQUEL, best read after you finish the full thirteen book series by Kim Harrison. As of me writing this, the first book is on sale for $2.99. In a world where humans are the dominant species, they are fully unaware that there are a number […]
If you love Our Lady of Skepticism, don’t read this.
I mean, I hate to be that person, but Hashtag Not My Scully (#NotMyScully). I wasn’t precisely looking forward to this book, despite being the owner of a beyond huge X-Files obsession that permeated my adolescence, but it seemed like a fun idea, if executed properly. I wasn’t as worried for the Mulder one in this pair of books, because his story as a teenager practically writes itself. Also, Kami Garcia seemed like a good choice. She knows the genre, and is successful in it. […]
Preachy Druids and Priestesses
I guess if you create a wildly successful new take on Arthurian legend, and your fans decide to adopt the religion you created* for the book, it makes sense to write yourself and your fans some new holy texts under the guise of science fiction. I mean, it’s the L. Ron Hubbard thing to do, and that seems to have worked out very well. (*I believe Bradley did research druidism, but it’s not like there’s a lot of living Druid from the time of the […]
Same Bartimaeus, Different Century
I think I read the original Bartimaeus trilogy back in Cannonball IV. It’s definitely a series you need to read before trying to get into this one, which is a prequel. If you have read the series before, you know that humans bind demons to do their bidding, which doesn’t make demons very enamored of humans and on more than one occasion, a demon has found a loophole in his contract and eaten his slaver. Bartimaeus fancies himself as the best demon to ever demon, […]
Hey, Not Every Review I Write is Negative!
After reading a string of unsatisfying fantasy, I danced with joy when Clariel was released because I knew Garth Nix would not disappoint. If you have not read his Abhorsen trilogy yet, you should get on that immediately, especially if you are a fan of young adult fantasy with strong women characters. You could start with this book, because it’s a prequel to the trilogy and covers lot of the basics of the world building, I think it makes a better companion piece to the trilogy […]
Slightly disappointing prequel to a series I love.
This is a prequel, and prequels can be dicey, so let me just start by saying: this could have been much, much, much worse. Clariel is the story–not of how young Clariel becomes Chlorr of the Mask from the original series like I was expecting it to be–but of how the foundations for that eventual change are laid. Seventeen year old Clariel moves with her family to the city of Belisaere. Clariel’s a girl of the forest, so right away this makes her unhappy, but the city […]