Library Journal - Tor/Forge Blog

Starred Review: The Emperor’s Blades

December 31, 2013May 15, 2024torforge

“In this epic fantasy debut, Staveley has created a complex and richly detailed world filled with elite soldier-assassins, mystic warrior monks, serpentine politics, and ancient secrets. Readers of Sara Douglass’s Wayfarer novels and George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” series should enjoy this opener.”

Brian Staveley’s The Emperor’s Blades got a starred review in Library Journal!

Here’s the full review, from the November 15th issue:

When the emperor of Annur is assassinated, his three children do what they must to survive as well as to track down their father’s killer. The eldest son and heir to the Unhewn Throne, Kaden, has lived for eight years in a monastery undergoing rigorous training and discipline to hone all his skills. His younger brother, Valyn, trains with the warriors and assassins who ride the gigantic hawks of the Kettral. Their sister Adair, elevated to the position of Minister of Finance in one of her father’s final acts, remains at court, surrounded by intrigue. As the three siblings face their individual challenges, they also gain abilities that may help them find justice and avenge their father’s death.

In this epic fantasy debut, Staveley has created a complex and richly detailed world filled with elite soldier-assassins, mystic warrior monks, serpentine politics, and ancient secrets. Readers of Sara Douglass’s Wayfarer novels and George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” series should enjoy this opener.

The Emperor’s Blades will be published on January 14th.

What's New

Starred Review: Something More Than Night

November 19, 2013May 15, 2024torforge

“Superlatives seem superfluous. Instead…wow. Just—wow.”

Ian Tregillis’s Something More Than Night got a starred review in Library Journal!

Here’s the full review, from the October 15th issue:

New, independent fantasy from the author of the fine Milkweed Triptych (Necessary Evil, 2013, etc.)—and it’s a doozy.

Imagine a gumshoe noir yarn, embedded in a fundamentally theology-free medieval heaven underpinned by known or extrapolated scientific cosmological theory. Further posit that a minor fallen angel named Bayliss has assumed the persona of Philip Marlowe—why? Eventually readers will find out—and that as the story opens, he watches the death of the angel Gabriel spread across the skies of Earth in a spectacular shower of meteors and particles. Bayliss has been ordered by his superiors in the angelic Choir to recruit a replacement—someone pliable and not too bright. And the victim must die before being resurrected as an angel. So, Bayliss arranges an accident—but instead of his chosen dupe, he kills Molly Pruett, a highly intelligent, strong-willed and stunning redhead. Bayliss, being Marlowe, thinks of Molly as his client and carefully tells her little of what she needs to know to assume her angelic mantle. Impossible as it seems, Gabriel was murdered, somebody has stolen the Jericho Trumpet, and Bayliss is determined to find out why. The trail leads him to Father Santorelli, who’s been handing out powerful plenary indulgences—get out of hell free cards. Molly, meanwhile, after a series of mishaps and a scolding from METATRON, the Voice of God, learns that the recipients of the indulgences cannot sleep for fear of the terrible dreams of angelic violence that now plague them. All this barely scratches the surface of what’s going on here, as Molly (and the reader) gradually comes to realize that Bayliss may not be the most reliable of narrators and that his Marlowe persona is one part of a vast, intricate plot a billion years in the making.

Superlatives seem superfluous. Instead…wow. Just—wow.

Something More Than Night will be published on December 3rd.

What's New

Starred Review: Dangerous Women

November 19, 2013May 15, 2024torforge

“The wide selection of authors guarantees something to please almost every reader’s tastes.”

George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois’s Dangerous Women got a starred review in Library Journal!

Here’s the full review, from the October 15th issue:

From Jim Butcher’s tale featuring Molly, protégée of Chicago mage Harry Dresden (“Bombshells”), to a side story by Diana Gabaldon set in the world of her Outlander series (“Virgins”), the 21 tales in this supersized themed anthology present a varied array of female heroines and villainesses. Other contributors include Nancy Kress, Melinda Snodgrass, and S.M. Stirling, and their stories run the gamut from fantasy and sf to horror, mystery, and suspense. Fans of Martin’s Game of Thrones (both the novels and the HBO series) will enjoy his “The Princess and the Queen,” a novella that forms a prequel to the novels.

The wide selection of authors guarantees something to please almost every reader’s tastes.

Dangerous Women will be published on December 3rd.

What's New

Starred Review: Fiddlehead

October 29, 2013May 15, 2024torforge

“This is a compelling finale to a fantastic series. The good guys are complex and sympathetic; the villains are suitably clever and malign. The action rattles along at breakneck speed, and the reader can’t resist coming along for the wild ride, which includes a climactic battle featuring a wheelchair-bound Abe Lincoln and a temporarily sober Ulysses S. Grant. Highly recommended for all readers of fantasy and steampunk.”

Cherie Priest’s Fiddlehead got a starred review in Library Journal!

Here’s the full review, from the November 15th issue:

The end of the world as we know it makes for an exciting wrap-up to Priest’s epic alternate steampunk series, which began with Boneshaker. The U.S. Civil War has continued for 20 years because an inventor knocked out Seattle with his Boneshaker engine and stirred up a poisonous gas that is still creating zombies. In Washington, DC, Gideon Bardsley’s new Fiddlehead computational engine has just predicted that the zombies will eventually destroy the human race if the North and South don’t make peace and immediately eradicate the threat. But evil profiteers want to continue the war by spreading the zombie plague and forcing Europe to enter the conflict on the side of the otherwise battle-weakened Confederate States of America. It’s a diabolical plan that just might work.

This is a compelling finale to a fantastic series. The good guys are complex and sympathetic; the villains are suitably clever and malign. The action rattles along at breakneck speed, and the reader can’t resist coming along for the wild ride, which includes a climactic battle featuring a wheelchair-bound Abe Lincoln and a temporarily sober Ulysses S. Grant. Highly recommended for all readers of fantasy and steampunk.

Fiddlehead will be published on November 12th.

What's New

Starred Review: Delia’s Shadow by Jaime Lee Moyer

September 18, 2013May 15, 2024torforge

“Both major and minor characters spring to life in this polished historical fantasy/mystery that should appeal to a wide variety of readers and could cross over to mainstream readers as well.”

Jaime Lee Moyer’s Delia’s Shadow got a starred review in Library Journal!

Here’s the full review, from the August issue:

Since the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 that killed her parents, Delia Martin has been able to see ghosts. Accepting a teaching job in New York City helped keep the spirits at bay for a few years, but now one persistent presence, a young woman Delia calls Shadow, is demanding that she return to San Francisco to bring the spirit — and, perhaps, Delia herself — the peace she seeks. The city Delia finds upon her return, though, is a more sinister one in which a killer who stalks the streets may, in fact, be the same person who murdered the young woman who is now Delia’s ghostly companion. Moyer’s first novel captures the feel of San Francisco in 1915, with its genteel upper class and ambitious working class, as well as the excitement for the future brought about by the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. VERDICT Both major and minor characters spring to life in this polished historical fantasy/mystery that should appeal to a wide variety of readers and could cross over to mainstream readers as well.

Delia’s Shadow published on September 17th.

What's New

Starred Review: The Incrementalists

September 10, 2013May 15, 2024torforge

“…beautifully written and satisfying.”

Steven Brust and Skyler White’s The Incrementalists got a starred review in Library Journal!

Here’s the full review, from the October 1st issue:

Brust (Tiassa) and White (In Dreams Begin) craft an engaging speculative fiction novel that is as much magical realism as urban fantasy. The Incrementalists are quasi-immortals who work behind the scenes, not to control the world but simply to make it better. They store information in a shared metaphorical construct called “the Garden, somewhat akin to a memory palace in which hundreds can partake. In order to ensure their continuation, they pass along memories from members who have died to new recruits. Phil has guided Ren through the ritual to accept the memories of Celeste, but, in an unprecedented move, Celeste has altered the process and hidden herself from Ren. Phil must summon other senior Incrementalists so that, together, they can search the Garden for Celeste and, if need be, counter whatever plans she has made. A gunshot rings out, someone is poisoned, and two people fall in love in the real world (i.e., Las Vegas) while much of the rest of the “action” takes place in metaphor.

Although there is no hint of the Hungarian folklore that plays a role in Brust’s popular series about the assassin Vlad Taltos, the novel has many other qualities that will satisfy Brust’s fans. Unusual but beautifully written and satisfying.

The Incrementalists will be published on September 24th.

What's New

Starred Review: Billy Moon by Douglas Lain

August 27, 2013May 15, 2024torforge

“Luminous storytelling and brilliant period descriptions make this fictional biography a priceless addition to the American magical realism canon; the book should be recommended to fantasy and general readers.”

Douglas Lain’s Billy Moon was the Debut of the Month in the August issue of Library Journal!

Here’s the full review:

Christopher Robin Milne, aka “Billy Moon,” has never quite outlived the image of him presented to the world by his father, the illustrious A.A. Milne. After service in World War II, Christopher and his wife operate a low-key bookstore (sans the tales of a certain stuffed bear). When a French college student invites him to Paris to witness the student uprisings in 1968, Christopher accepts on a whim—and enters a scenario every bit as “magical” and much more dangerous than any from his fictional childhood. Lain’s first novel combines two unlikely topics to form a tapestry of life in the late 1960s, when Europe, as well as America, experienced the revolutionary fervor of youth. Milne’s friend and guide, Gerrard, has a curious relationship with time and space, and Milne finds himself caught up in the transient nature of both while seeking desperately to anchor himself to his real present. VERDICT Luminous storytelling and brilliant period descriptions make this fictional biography a priceless addition to the American magical realism canon; the book should be recommended to fantasy and general fiction readers. [See Prepub Alert, 2/25/13.]

Billy Moon published on August 27th.

What's New

Starred Review: The Confessions of Al Capone by Loren D. Estleman

June 21, 2013May 15, 2024torforge

“Estleman’s Capone is a complex and multifaceted figure: jovial family man, convivial host, sharp-dressed fashion plate, and pensive retiree contemplating his memories and mortality. Although mentally deteriorating, he is still, on his good days, a canny judge of character who is capable of ruthless retaliation. Verdict A tense and thoughtful historical thriller, recommended for all fans of crime fiction and historical novels.”

Loren D. Estleman’s The Confessions of Al Capone gets a starred review in Library Journal!

Here’s the full review:

In 1939, Al Capone was released from Alcatraz after serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for income tax evasion. Suffering from the effects of syphilis he had contracted as a young man, the former gang boss retired to a palatial beach house near Miami, where he lived with his wife and son until his death in 1947. Into this historical scenario, Estleman, the popular and award-winning author of 70 novels, weaves a gripping fictional tale of a young FBI agent on a perilous mission. Owing to his family connections with the Capone “outfit” and his training at a Catholic seminary, Peter Vasco is seen by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover as an ideal tool with which to infiltrate Capone’s household, masquerading as a priest, and collect information that can be used to investigate Capone’s family and associates. In addition to this difficult mission, Vasco faces the awkward duty of mending his strained relationship with his father, whose link to the Capone gang during Peter’s childhood years remains murky and unexplained, and his own unresolved feelings about his unfinished religious training. Estleman’s Capone is a complex and multifaceted figure: jovial family man, convivial host, sharp-dressed fashion plate, and pensive retiree contemplating his memories and mortality. Although mentally deteriorating, he is still, on his good days, a canny judge of character who is capable of ruthless retaliation.

Verdict A tense and thoughtful historical thriller, recommended for all fans of crime fiction and historical novels. [Previewed in Kristi Chadwick’s “Following the Digital Clues: Mystery Genre Spotlight,” LJ 4/15/13.—Ed.]—Bradley Scott, Corpus Christie, TX

The Confessions of Al Capone was published on June 11th.

What's New

Starred Review: Sea Change by S. M. Wheeler

June 18, 2013May 8, 2024torforge

“Wheeler’s truly original, fanciful, and transformative story will delight fantasy lovers of all types, as well as those readers attached to coming-of-age narratives and feminist sf.”

Sea Change, by S.M. Wheeler, gets another starred review, this time in Library Journal!

Here’s the full review, from the June 15 issue:

Lilly is a solitary, resourceful, and intelligent girl, her face covered by such a potent birthmark her talents remain forever hidden to the gaping eyes of others. A source of disappointment to a father in search of a capable son-in-law, a source of frustrating to a withholding, magical mother, Lilly finds solace solely in the company of the Kraken she encountered as the seaside at the age of eight. She renames him Octavius, and as the years pass their friendship only deepens. Their routine is disturbed by Octavius’s sudden disappearance, and Lilly decides to abandon her family and devote herself to finding him. Her selfless pursuit leads her to a troll in need of female organs, a witch in search of her skin, a duo of bandits looking for companionship, a landowner endowed with mystical capabilities, and bewitching beauty, and Octavius himself, trapped in a circus side show. VERDICT This debut novel begins in a hushed voice, then, slowly, the beauty of Wheeler’s writing, the beguiling character of Lilly, and the tale’s deeply complicated revisions and distortions concerning sex and gender reach utterly absorbing heights. Wheeler’s truly original, fanciful, and transformative story will delight fantasy lovers of all types, as well as those readers attached to coming-of-age narratives and feminist sf. —Jennifer Rogers, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community Coll. Lib., Richmond

Sea Change will be published on June 18th.

What's New

Starred Review: Wisp of a Thing by Alex Bledsoe

June 18, 2013January 25, 2024torforge

“Bledsoe’s latest fantasy captures the allure and the sometimes sinister beauty of the Appalachian backwoods, filled with myths, haunted by ghosts, and touched, as always, by death.”

Wisp of a Thing, by Alex Bledsoe, gets another starred review, this time in Library Journal!

Here’s the full review, from the June 15 issue:

In an attempt to escape the pain and guilt of his girlfriend’s sudden death, musician Rob Quillen travels to Cloud County, TN, where the mysterious black-haired Tufa clan – rumored to be indigenous to the region – may hold the key to a song that will bring him peace. Instead, he finds himself drawn further into a search for the origins of the Tufa even as he learns dangerous truths about the song he seeks. Set in the same world as The Hum and the Shiver, Bledsoe’s latest fantasy captures the allure and the sometimes sinister beauty of the Appalachian backwoods, filled with myths, haunted by ghosts, and touched, always, by death. VERDICT The author of the Eddie LaCrosse urban fantasy series (The Sword-Edged Blonde) proves his versatility with a hauntingly beautiful tale of love lost and hope rediscovered.

Wisp of a Thing will be published on June 18th.

Starred Review: The Confessions of Al Capone by Loren D. Estleman

Starred Review: Sea Change by S. M. Wheeler

Starred Review: Wisp of a Thing by Alex Bledsoe

Posts navigation