Review: American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Reading
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m trying to remember whether or not I’ve read any of Gaiman’s other novels before, and I’m fairly certain that I haven’t. I read Good Omens, but that was co-written with Terry Pratchett, and the collaboration was genius. I know that the entire world seems to love Sandman, of course, but I’m just not a fan of graphic novels. In fact, it took me a while to realize that the Good Omens co-author and the Sandman author were one and the same. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: American Gods, Fantasy, Neil Gaiman
Reviews: Various Short Stories
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Book Reviews, Reading
I just finished reading a bunch of different short stories that have been lurking in various programs on my iTouch. While they are reviewed in separate entries on GoodReads, I’m going to try to put the reviews in one blog post. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Fantasy, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Laura Anne Gilman, Patricia Cirone, Retrievers, Science Fiction, short stories, The Retrieval Artist
Review: Walking Dead by C.E. Murphy
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Reading
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’ve enjoyed the other Walker Papers novels, but Walking Dead definitely showed more depth and maturity than the earlier volumes. Both the author and her lead character have grown very nicely. Joanne is far from perfect, but she doesn’t make the same mistakes over and over again, which is a pet peeve of mine and occurs all too often in some other authors works. (There’s consistency, and then there’s refusing to learn from mistakes to the extent that I have to believe that a character is too stupid to live.) As for the author, it’s incredibly refreshing to read a series that does not fall into the all-too-familiar paranormal romance formula!
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: C.E. Murphy, Fantasy, The Walker Papers, Walking Dead
Capucine’s Story!
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Humor
This little girl has to be one of the cutest little darlings anywhere! Her story is highly entertaining 🙂
Once upon a time… from Capucha on Vimeo.
Tags: Capucine, Fantasy, French, monkeys
Random Linkage
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Links
In lieu of a real post, which would require actual thought…
New Elizabeth Bear short story: The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder
Ruminations on science fiction, fantasy, etc.: Asking the Wrong Questions
Dr. Horrible recast with My Little Ponies
Tags: Dr. Horrible, Elizabeth Bear, Fantasy, My Little Ponies, Science Fiction
Review: The Iron Hunt by Marjorie M. Liu
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Reading
The Iron Hunt by Marjorie M. Liu
My review
rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Iron Hunt is a beautifully written book with some interesting twists on established fantasy memes. To some extent, I felt that I’d come in to the world on book 2 or 3, but as far as I know (and from what Amazon says) this is the first book of the Hunter Kiss series. There was a bit of Buffy and a little Witchblade, with other elements I’m sure I’m overlooking.
For once, it’s good to see a novel in which an established couple has a seemingly-healthy relationship. Maxine and Grant have very different skills, but they work together well. That said, this is not a romance, so some of Liu’s readers may not enjoy it.
Edited to add: I just learned that there is, in fact, a prequel to this book in Wild Thing (an anthology), which I hadn’t heard of before. I’ll certainly be looking for it.
Next up: The Down Home Zombie Bluesby new-to-me-author Linnea Sinclair
Tags: Fantasy, Linnea Sinclair, Marjorie M. Liu
Review: Hotter Than Hell
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Reading
Hotter Than Hell, the latest “Hell” anthology is edited and has an introduction by Kim Harrison. I don’t know if the sexier trend is her choice, a response to market demands, or something else again.
The anthology is thicker than most, with longer pieces–short novellas?–by each of the 13 authors. I read a copy from the library, but it’s one of the few anthologies that I’d consider worth the $7.99 cover price.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: anthology, Carrie Vaughn, Cheyenne McCray, dark fantasy, Denise Little, Fantasy, Heidi Betts, horror, Keri Arthur, Kim Harrison, L.A. Banks, Lilith Saintcrow, Linda Winstead Jones, Marjorie M. Liu, reviews, Susan Krinard, Susan Sizemore, Tanya Huff
R.I.P. Robert Asprin
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Reading
I only encountered him personally once, on a panel the first time I attended a con (Dragon Con, 1988 or so?). I thought he was an arrogant jerk. I’ve heard from others that he could be quite nice, so maybe it was some kind of schtick. I did enjoy all the Thieves World books, despite their unrelenting darkness.
He was scheduled to be at MarCon this weekend, so it seems his death was sudden and unexpected. I wish the best to his family and friends.
Tags: deaths, Fantasy, Robert Lynn Asprin
TotD: Robin Laws on Roleplaying Games
Posted by Cyn | Filed under RPGs, Thought of the Day
I hadn’t ever thought of it this way, but I think the man is on to something.
“One of my pet theories about the popularity of roleplaying games goes like this. Roleplaying is fantasy shopping for guys. That is, men would, as a group, be more interested in shopping if a) it meant never having to leave the house and b) they were shopping for super-powers. In that case, the typical roleplaying rulebook is like a Nieman-Marcus catalog for super-powers. Depending on the game system and character type, these extraordinary abilities might be called feats, spells, schticks, disciplines, skills, high tech gear, psionics, or whatever. For lack of a a better all-encompassing term, I refer to these things as crunchy bits.”
Robin D. Laws, Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering
Tags: Fantasy, Gaming, high tech gear, Robin D. Laws, Robin Laws, roleplayiing, shopping, TotD
MomoCon?
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Fun, Geekery, RPGs
Anybody going to MomoCon here in Atlanta? I’d never heard of it before today. It’s free, and may be in its second year (I’m not sure). It seems quite small, which could be nice. It’s local, which is a big plus for us. I’m unclear as to whether there’s any gaming happening or not, and there’s no mention of filking that I can see.
Tags: anime, Atlanta, conventions, costuming, Fantasy, Gaming, podcasting, Science Fiction