samvara

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski. Dark fantasy/fairy story telling set in a grimy world where all sorts of fantastical beasts exist and Witchers are the not so sekrit society who hunt down evil and deal with it. I felt the fate of many of the female characters as a bit grim but the story telling was good.

Buffy Season 8 Issue 14 & 15 by Drew Goddard. I love Xander's relationship with Dracula as much as ever and had a giggle at the mech-Dawn’s dialogue.

Supernatural Origins by Peter Johnson. If I'd known the new art work was being picked up just so we could have better drawings of tits I wouldn't have been so excited. Apparently women are home wrecking, child stealing, evil sex-beasts and I'm feeling pretty damn repulsed right now.

Tangled Webs by Anne Bishop. A story in the Black Jewels 'verse centered around Surreal, not as funny or as hitched to my heartstrings.

Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz. I struggled with this, largely I think on account of it being written in the first person. I find this works very well in certain styles, especially when the writer is playing with unreliable narration. I want to like it more than I do as I have a thing for super intelligent dog stories but I can't warm to the main protagonist and this is a problem. I was also put off by part of the book being written in 'surfer'.

Sebastian (Landscapes of Ephemera 01) by Anne Bishop. Great premise: a world where the link between the landscape and the heart is real and the world is a reflection of people's fears and desires. I took a little time to warm to Sebastian but am now thoroughly hooked. This is not the most sophisticated writing but it speaks to my heart. It may well fall into my comfort reading section along with some early Mercedes Lackey and David Eddings.

One Good Knight: A Tale of the Five Hundred Kingdoms (Book 2) by Mercedes Lackey. A tongue in cheek re-telling of a classic fairy tale. Oh god so cheap, had to stop reading every now and then and smack myself in the head with it. It's like the difference between really clever puns where you hate them but you know they're clever and cheap puns where you just groan and throw things. I understand the urge to write this kind of crack, it's fun.

The Keys to the Kingdom (02) Grim Tuesday by Garth Nix. Good fun young adult literature with fabulous imagery, interesting ideas and strong themes.
The Keys to the Kingdom (03) Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix. Ditto. Going out to find books 04 and 05 today.

Some short stories set around the Black Jewels storyline. Enjoyable, comfort re-readable and interesting if you've read the Black Jewels trilogy.

Still uneven but the good bits are good enough that I don't mind.

Daughter of the Blood
Heir to the Shadows
Queen of the Darkness

Impulse buy - there was a perfect trilogy all sitting there squeaking "Buy me, buy me!". So I did.

A prophetess foretells the coming of a Queen who will rule a powerful and corrupted race of magic users. The Blood have forsaken their ancient responsibilities and their unbalanced society thrives on sadism and cruelty. The living embodiment of magic, a seven year old girl could be the answer some are desperately yearning for, but who will influence her as she matures.. and who will dare stand by her side.

Dark. Very dark. Middling as fantasy goes but with a wonderfully witty touch that kept me happily in there until I ran out of pages.