In a Middle Eastern security state, a young Arab-Indian hacker with the handle Alif shields his clients — whoever will pay, including dissidents, Islamists, and Westerners— from online surveillance. Alif loves an upper class woman, Intisar, who has unfortunately been betrothed to a princely type. Alif is of course heartbroken. But then Alif’s computer is breached by a nefarious “Hand”, despite his expert precautions, and Intisar secretly sends him The Thousand and One Days, an ancient and secret book of the djinn. Things get weird, and Alif […]
What if the NAZIs had won?
I will admit to y’all up front that I have no idea what I’m about to say in this review. I don’t want this to become one of those roadblock reviews for me. You know, the ones where you just can’t figure out what to say because the whole book just overwhelmed you, and you can’t even figure out your own reaction, let alone how to sum up the book for other people. I have no idea what my reaction is, or how to sum […]
Magic mixes with Hindu mythology in another Kate Daniels adventure
This is the third in the series, still in 2040 Atlanta where magic and tech surges alternate and wreak havoc, and humanity shares the planet with strange creatures of all sorts. The first half of Magic Strikes is classic, but heartbreaking. Heroine Kate Daniels races against time to save her– and my–favorite teen werewolf Derek from a gang of death fighters he has angered by encouraging a beautiful young would-be defector from their ranks, but she arrives too late. Derek’s body is discovered shattered and […]
Witches, Vampires, Werewolves … and Celtic Mythology.
Second in this excellent urban fantasy series, author/couple Ilona Andrews gives us lots to chew on in Magic Burns. Part-time mercenary and part-time investigator/warrior for the merciless Order of Merciful Aid, Kate Daniels is asked to rescue some important survey maps for the shapeshifter alliance known as The Pack, and in the process comes smack up against two colliding Celtic gods and their minions who are hoping to re-enter—and re-take—the world during a rare magic flare, which is described as a “magic tsunami. “ Alone […]
The bones of something good
This book had a lot of buzz about it and I had pre-ordered, even though I did not know the author. I normally read the preview before purchasing the book, and I’m not sure I would have purchased this had I read the preview first. The book takes the philosophy that gods draw power from their supporters. The slaves in this book have become the masters and the conquerors must, amid social unrest, must try to stay ahead of rebel factions. I give this book 3 stars. Here’s a breakdown…
I feel like this series is tired.
First Among Sequels is the fifth Thursday Next book, a book series which is impossibly to accurately sum up, because it’s so weird, and stubbornly resists classification (on purpose). I suppose in theory you could start reading the series with this book (after all, I had largely forgotten most of the details of the previous four when I started it and it turned out fine for me), but you’d really lose appreciation for the little details if you did that, and a lot of the […]