more SF & Fantasy
May. 12th, 2008 03:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eviltammyUnfortunately not an especially thrilling bunch :(
Cauldron by Jack McDevitt - A failing space program gets a boost from a new star drive and two veteran pilots get to return to deep space to test the drive and investigate some mysterious space objects. Vague description, I know :) but the detail is too long. Book is readable and enjoyable, but has very little zip (I was going to say 'drive', but decided not to go there). Very slow throughout, and then the main mystery of the omegas is handled very quickly. For fans mostly.
The Exchange Student by Kate Gilmore - Talk about a foreign exchange student! Fen is an alien from Chela, one of nine teen Chelans sent to Earth to live with human families and learn about life here. 16 year old Daria isn't thrilled to have Fen come into her home, but when she realizes he is as much an animal lover as she is, she opens up. She is a registered zookeeper, helping to breed endangered animals. But Fen and friends do have an ulterior motive. Which, thankfully, isn't the cliched 'eating humans' motive - though, at points, I did wish it was(Daria's sister is a stereotypical fashion fanatic teenager). Nice stuff about animals and ecological disasters. (YAC)
Tracing the Shadow by Sarah Ash - Plot is extremely complex. Interesting characters, nice magical feel with some very different types of magic. Some good action, but loads of explication. Almost too many characters. Felt like more of a setup for the next book(s). Would be interested in the next one and in her other books. Good writing.
Flora Segunda by Ysabeau Wilce - First the purely silly - great cover to the hardback and I love the author's first name (yes, I'm a Ladyhawke fan & a Guy Gavriel Kay fan). Another complex plot, with good characters, with way too much explication as compared to the action. Some very inventive, original ideas that could have used some better editing. But would be interesting in at least looking at the next one. (YAC)
all books: 100 books
Cauldron by Jack McDevitt - A failing space program gets a boost from a new star drive and two veteran pilots get to return to deep space to test the drive and investigate some mysterious space objects. Vague description, I know :) but the detail is too long. Book is readable and enjoyable, but has very little zip (I was going to say 'drive', but decided not to go there). Very slow throughout, and then the main mystery of the omegas is handled very quickly. For fans mostly.
The Exchange Student by Kate Gilmore - Talk about a foreign exchange student! Fen is an alien from Chela, one of nine teen Chelans sent to Earth to live with human families and learn about life here. 16 year old Daria isn't thrilled to have Fen come into her home, but when she realizes he is as much an animal lover as she is, she opens up. She is a registered zookeeper, helping to breed endangered animals. But Fen and friends do have an ulterior motive. Which, thankfully, isn't the cliched 'eating humans' motive - though, at points, I did wish it was(Daria's sister is a stereotypical fashion fanatic teenager). Nice stuff about animals and ecological disasters. (YAC)
Tracing the Shadow by Sarah Ash - Plot is extremely complex. Interesting characters, nice magical feel with some very different types of magic. Some good action, but loads of explication. Almost too many characters. Felt like more of a setup for the next book(s). Would be interested in the next one and in her other books. Good writing.
Flora Segunda by Ysabeau Wilce - First the purely silly - great cover to the hardback and I love the author's first name (yes, I'm a Ladyhawke fan & a Guy Gavriel Kay fan). Another complex plot, with good characters, with way too much explication as compared to the action. Some very inventive, original ideas that could have used some better editing. But would be interesting in at least looking at the next one. (YAC)
all books: 100 books
