I liked this, didn’t love it. I think Austin Grossman and I just don’t blend well as reader/writer. And it all started out so well! The book begins from the point of view of Dr. Impossible as he reflects from prison on his life and career as a supervillain. He has been arrested twelve times now, after having almost destroyed the world and/or conquered it, also twelve times. His nemesis is CoreFire, leader of a group of superheroes not unlike the Avengers. The world they live in […]
An underwhelming collaboration from some greats
Disclaimer: I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Black Trillium was first published in the early nineties, a joint effort of three respected fantasy authors now turning their collective attentions toward a trio of three royal sisters who are fated to restore balance to the world. It’s now being republished with a neat new cover but, unfortunately, the formulaic story with three heroines who may as well be stock characters for all of the depth they do not possess is […]
Time of the Living Gargoyles
I picked this up as a light read and it is, but it’s entertaining. Zoe Faust, the heroine, is an herbalist and runs an online shop, who just wants to settle into her new fixer-upper home in Portland, Oregon. Zoe encounters a few problems. First, there is the living stone gargoyle Dorian Robert-Houdin who has stowed away in her things because he needs her help translating an old alchemical text in order to save his life. It turns out Zoe is several centuries old, having […]
Yet another final book in a trilogy that can’t stand up to the greatness of the first two books
I wish the love affair could have lasted, but the final book in N. K. Jemisin’s Inheritance series was such a disappointment for me. There was a good book hidden in those 600+ pages, but The Kingdom of Gods needed a few more drafts and some massive editing to get there. I can’t figure out what happened with this one. The first two books of the series were so tightly plotted with clear character arcs. This one just meandered forever with the main character resisting […]