There are 3 kinds of Drew Hayes books: a) the novels that as complete books are 600+ pages long, have short chapters, and are fairly episodic (ie Super Powereds), b) the novels that are structured more like novels with chapter longer than 1-2 pages and not epic in length (Spells, Swords, & Stealth), and c) the novels that are average in length (under 300 pages) and set up like a series of short stories (Fred the Vampire Accountant). While some of the distinctions come from […]
So Much Yes!
I needed something fun and not too heavy to clear my mind before I dived into Kindred, and The Epic Crush of Genie Lo ended up being the perfect fit (thanks emmalita for the rave review!). Genie Lo grew up in the poor side of the Bay Area, and she wants out. She and her friend Yunie (they share the name Eugenia) are using academics and an extraordinary amount of extracurriculars as their ticket out, though Yunie’s accomplishments on the piano may give her a […]
We are Stardust, We are Golden
Shadow Scale is the sequel to Seraphina, a book I reviewed a few months ago, which is easily one of the most original books I’ve read in a long time. Since it’s a sequel, Shadow Scale didn’t have quite the same feeling of magic and wonder, but I loved it all the same for giving me more time in this universe with these characters. These books take place in a kingdom called Goredd, in a world where humans and dragons co-exist, mostly peacefully (at least […]
Red Sister? Like a baby Red Sonja?
I’ll admit, even with the strong recommendations I was getting for this book, I did have some trepidation picking up Red Sister. The only other work of Mark Lawrence that I’ve read previously was Prince of Thorns, which I had a lot of difficulties getting into. The problem wasn’t so much with Lawrence’s prose, which I quite liked, or his world-building, but with his protagonist. While the story of an irredeemable psychopath does have the potential to be interesting, I found myself driven to apathy […]