The SF Site: Featured Reviews Archive

The reviews are sorted alphabetically by authors' last name -- one or more pages for each letter (plus one for Mc). All but some recent reviews are listed here. Links to those reviews appear on the Recent Feature Review Page.

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The Book of Athyra by Steven Brust
reviewed by Cindy Lynn Speer
In this omnibus, we get the complete texts to two books of the amazing Vlad Taltos series, Athyra and Orca. In a way, the fact that both of these books are together is very important, as the first introduces a main character for both, creating a back story that is absolutely essential for the second.

The Paths of the Dead by Steven Brust
reviewed by Cindy Lynn Speer
It was an innocent experiment, but it destroyed so much. Their Emperor, the Orb of power, and the capital city are all gone, destroyed by a magical mistake. Now people must try and find a new way of life. They are without even the simplest of spells upon which they have depended for so long. When Zerika, the Heir of the Phoenix is discovered, hope for a renewal of this old way of life comes back, bringing together a group of swashbuckling heroes who will gladly risk everything for an adventure.

The Book of Taltos by Steven Brust
reviewed by William Thompson
The character of Vlad Taltos is one of the more singular in contemporary American fantasy. An assassin for the introspective, with vulnerabilities and foibles that are all too human, Vlad inhabits a rather unique and jaundiced world and culture that somehow works and prospers despite its best, or worst, efforts. Bearing a certain skewed resemblance to our own, the Dragaeran Empire (though no one would ever accuse the United States of imperial ambitions) is divided into seventeen Great Houses, around which each book to date has been titled. Vlad occupies the lowest caste, the Jherig, whose business interests run towards the unsavory.

Issola by Steven Brust
reviewed by William Thompson
It is always a notable event when a new Vlad Taltos novel is published: with Vlad, Steven Brust has created one of the more original and memorable characters of fantasy fiction. This is the 9th volume in the series; go back and read them from the beginning. Once you start this rollicking, humoresque series, you won't put it down till you reach the conclusion.

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