Tag archives for Urban Fantasy - Page 2
The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch [Book Review]
The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch The Furthest Station is a novella, so quite short, set between Foxglove Summer and The Hanging Tree. There's some interesting character development of some of the regular cast and also a couple of new characters. There are also some tantalising loose ends that I hope end up being explored in future stories. The Furthest Station Rush hour on the London Underground (Photo: Wikipedia) The main plot is of a ghost hunt on London Underground. Peter is joined by his younger cousin Abigail, who is turning out to be more than she appears on the surface. Abigail has an affinity with Foxes. Some things happen off-screen that I think may be connected with the Cry Fox graphic novel (which I've not yet read, I'm waiting for the collected edition before I acquire it). The Furthest…
Blood Faerie by India Drummond [Book Review]
Blood Faerie by India Drummond My rating: 4 of 5 stars I picked this up on kindle on a special offer, and finally got round to reading it over the summer holidays. I've enjoyed the Iron Druid stories, and it seemed to share some level of realism with those. Not exactly the same, but not a sparkly urban fantasy tale either. The faerie lore was quite different, and so were the druids. Blood Faerie is set in the real world, and magic happens without us noticing. So worth a read, especially on special offer. Blood Faerie Review I enjoyed it quite a lot. I would certainly read more in this world. The premise of the story is that there are some kinds of magic that the faeries don't tolerate. The Blood magic in the title being one of those forbidden…
The Nightmare Stacks by Charlie Stross [Book Review]
The Nightmare Stacks by Charles Stross My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Nightmare Stacks is another turn in the Laundry series, which has moved firmly away from following Bob Howard to being about the world that Bob inhabits. The main point of view in the Nightmare Stacks is Alex, one of the vampires from The Rhesus Chart. We also see some from Cassie's point of view (a new character) and Pinky & Brains return and play a strong supporting part in the story. We also see Pete the Vicar as Alex's mentor. The Nightmare Stacks Alex is not a cynical snarky commentator. Instead we have a primary character that is focussed on work and lacking some of the social skills, especially in dealing with the opposite sex, that are more commonplace. Alex is getting used to the changes of being…
Staked by Kevin Hearne [Book Review]
Staked by Kevin Hearne My rating: 4 of 5 stars I'm a fan of the Iron Druid. So much so that I pre-ordered Staked in paperback. All the previous ones I've read as catch up on my Kindle. However Kevin Hearne has made my pre-order on sight list (along with Ben Aaronovitch, Terry Pratchett, Iain Banks and Charles Stross). Staked Staked is the eighth full novel, and I've lost count of the novellas. The paperback version also has Prelude to War in the back of it, which is handy because Staked makes more sense when you've read Prelude to War. Just in case you've not read any Iron Druid, it's a very sensible urban fantasy series set in the modern day. I say sensible because the universe isn't too strange. You can imagine it coexisting with the world we…
Five Days in January by R.T. Lowe [Book Review]
The Felix Chronicles: Five Days in January by Lowe My rating: 4 of 5 stars Five Days in January is the second in the Felix Chronicles series and follows on from where The Felix Chronicles: Freshmen left off. Five Days in January Felix and his friends return in early January for the new semester, amid a backdrop of world-changing events. One of the aspects of Five Days in January that intrigued me was the development of Felix as a character. Initially Felix annoyed me, he was killing casually. The internal monologue though showed that Felix was starting to feel uneasy about this. Allison and Harper encouraged him though, keeping him steady and ensuring that he didn't lose the plot. As Five Days in January progresses Felix changes. As do the other main characters. The world around them is getting more…