Errant Dreams Reviews
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Posts Tagged ‘urban fantasy’

“Atlantis Unleashed,” Alyssa Day

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Pros: Interesting take on the world—unusual approach to the Atlantis myth
Cons: Make sure you read the whole series in order; some seemingly inconsistent behavior
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group.
Also posted on Epinions.com.

 

Alyssa Day’s Atlantis Unleashed is book three of her Warriors of Poseidon series. I ended up reading it first because, well, that happens when you’re a reviewer (and it works out fine for some series). However, I highly recommend reading this series in order. There’s a lot going on, and it’s tough to get your bearings if you don’t have the background from the other books. In particular, in part Atlantis Unleashed feels a bit like a bait-and-switch if you aren’t accustomed to paying attention to all of the characters at once—early on it introduces a major development for Brennan, one of Poseidon’s warriors, but then he’s out of the picture for the rest of the book, presumably waiting his turn for his own installment. Since I’d just been introduced to him, it was jarring to have his story vanish in the middle like that.

But, as often happens, I’m getting ahead of myself! First, the concept:

Eleven thousand years ago, Poseidon’s warriors swore an oath to protect humanity from those who stalked the night. Now those powerful forces are uniting. So are two souls who are all that stand between justice and eternal darkness…

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“Demon Mistress,” Yasmine Galenorn

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

Pros: Tense, detailed plotting; interesting world; nifty characters; fun protagonist
Cons: Very complex world; bad guys somewhat shallow
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group.

 

Demon Mistress is book six of Yasmine Galenorn’s Otherworld series (why on earth don’t publishers make that obvious on book covers the way they used to?). I happened to start the series with book five—one of the perils of being a book reviewer—so I will warn you that this is a very intricate world. It’s possible to get into it part-way through the series, but I don’t recommend trying to do so if you can avoid it; pick up the earlier books first.

This is one of those series where the publishers seem to have nailed the back cover text when it comes to summing the increasingly-complex premise up for you, so I’ll quote:
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“Nightlife,” Rob Thurman

Friday, May 1st, 2009

Pros: Wild, sardonic, action-filled ride!
Cons: None
Rating: 5 out of 5

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“Deader Still,” Anton Strout

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Pros: Interesting world, main character, and plot; fun
Cons: Side plot/character could use more detail
Rating: 4 out of 5

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“Deathwish,” Rob Thurman

Monday, March 9th, 2009

Pros: Hilarious, poignant, thoughtful; filled with personality and heart-pounding action
Cons: None
Rating: 5 out of 5

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Cooke’s “Kiss of Fate,” a non-review

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

Once upon a time, I got so caught up in the plots of the books I read and movies I watched that no matter how poor the execution of those plots was, I had to find out how they turned out once I started them. Since then, my priorities have changed. Maybe it’s that I don’t have the free time I once did, so I don’t want to waste it on something I don’t fully enjoy. Maybe it’s that there’s a limited number of ways for plots to turn out, and I’ve pretty much seen them all by now, so if the window dressing on the way there isn’t good, there’s no reason for me to stick around.
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“New Tricks,” John Levitt

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Pros: Gorgeous world; interesting plot; unusual “hero”
Cons: Villain lost some dimensions at the end; not everyone will like the style
Rating: 4 out of 5

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James’s “Dragon Master,” a non-review

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

I don’t review the books I don’t finish. I don’t talk about them on Amazon or Epinions, I don’t rate them on a numerical scale, and I don’t pretend to know for sure whether they’re good or bad books ultimately. But I don’t mind telling you exactly why I decided not to finish them.
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