Full Blooded by Amanda Carlson (Jessica McClain #1) Orbit (Sept 2012) Paperback, 322 pages Urban Fantasy Full Blooded is Carlson’s debut urban fantasy, and I really enjoyed it. Jessica McClain is the only female born into a pack of werewolves, and with the help of the Cain Myth, which declares she is evil, Jessica is feared among her kind, even those of her Pack. But Jessica has never been full blooded, until now. One night she wakes up in agony and goes through the change unexpectedly, kicking off a chain of…
Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson #7) Hachette/Orbit Books (March 2013) Ebook, 368 pages Urban Fantasy Frost Burned is book number 7 in the Mercy Thompson series and this is one series that delightfully has not lost its spark over time. Over the last two books Briggs’ seems to have cleverly changed the setting or scenario so that the writing remains fresh and interesting. I should also add that it was most definitely better than River Marked, the last instalment. The storyline centres around the kidnapping of the whole…
The Shadowed Sun (Dreamblood #2) by N. K. Jemisin Orbit Books (June 2012) | Paperback, 528 pages | Fantasy Set ten years after the events of The Killing Moon, The Shadowed Sun returns us to the kingdom of Gujaareh, which is being ruled by the Kisuati. I found it difficult to get into the book at the outset as it felt like there were several narrative threads coming together, but the main focus is on Sharer-Apprentice of the Hetawa, Hanani. She is the first ever female apprentice in the Hetawa, choosing to follow…
Cold Days by Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files #14) Orbit Books (Nov 2012) Hardcover, 515 pages Urban Fantasy Warning: contains spoilers for other books in series Harry Dresden, everyone’s favourite wizard is back in corporeal form and ready to save the day. Book fourteen of the Dresden Files starts immediately after the last book with Harry recuperating from his near death (or I guess real death) experience and in the service as Mab’s knight. Mab’s treatment method is unique as it involves physiotherapy and a daily doses of fighting for his life…
Ice Forged (Ascendent Kingdoms #1) by Gail Z. Martin Orbit Books (Jan 2013) Paperback, 592 pages Fantasy Condemned as a murderer for killing the man who dishonored his sister, Blaine “Mick” McFadden has spent the last six years in Velant, a penal colony in the frigid northern wastelands of Edgeland. Harsh military discipline and the oppressive magic of the governor’s mages keep a fragile peace as colonists struggle against a hostile environment. But the supply ships from Dondareth have stopped coming, boding ill for the kingdom that banished the colonists….
The Damnation Affair (Bannon & Clare #1.5) by Lilith Saintcrow | Orbit Books (Dec 2012) Ebook, 26 pages | Steampunk Saintcrow sets this tale in an alternative history, wild west with the prim and proper Catherine Barrow Browne jumping off the stage coach in the backwater town of Damnation in search of her brother. She has been hired as the town’s schoolteacher (schoolmarm) and covertly searching for the brother who she has lost contact with. One of the first to greet her is the town’s sheriff Jack Gabriel and the handsome hero finds he…
Timeless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate #5) Orbit Books (March 2012) Paperback, 328 pages Steampunk Romance Warning: contains spoilers for previous books Timeless by Gail Carriger picks up two years after the events of Heartless, with Alexia and Conall living in relative peace after the birth of their daughter, Prudence. They still inhabit Lord Akeldama’s closet, managing werewolf pack business from London whilst living with a whole host of well-dressed vampires. Needless to say no-one is allowed to leave the house without a suitable modicum of dress, resulting in a very…
Taken (Alex Verus #3) by Benedict Jacka Orbit Books (Sept 2012) | Paperback, 319 pages Urban Fantasy Taken by Benedict Jacka is the third novel in the Alex Verus series, featuring everyone’s favourite mage shopkeeper and diviner, Alex Verus. Following on from the events of both Fated and Cursed, Alex and his apprentice, Luna, are going about their daily business, with Alex running his shop in Camden whilst Luna attends her apprentice classes. Of course, this can’t last for long and soon Council mage Talisid approaches Alex with another mission. Being…
THE HERETIC LAND by Tim Lebbon PUBLISHER: Orbit Books RELEASE DATE: 2 August 2012 FORMAT: Paperback, 408 pages GENRE: Fantasy Arrested by the Ald, scholar Bon Ugane and merwoman Leki Borle find themselves on a prison ship bound for the island of Skythe – a barren land and the site of long-ago wars. Warped and ruined by the ancient conflict, survival on the island is tough and its original inhabitants are neither friendly nor entirely still human. But something else waits on the island, a living weapon whose very existence is…
THE KILLING MOON (The Dreamblood #1) by N. K. Jemisin PUBLISHER: Orbit Books RELEASE DATE: 1st May 2012 FORMAT: Paperback, 404 pages GENRE: Fantasy The city burned beneath the Dreaming Moon. In the ancient city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Upon its rooftops and amongst the shadows of its cobbled streets wait the Gatherers – the keepers of this peace. Priests of the dream-goddess, their duty is to harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to heal, soothe . . . and kill those judged corrupt. But…
Stray Souls (Magicals Anonymous #1) by Kate Griffin Orbit Books (Oct 2012) | Paperback, 454 pages Urban Fantasy The story starts with Facebook. ‘Facebook! Facebook?! I’ve got a city infested with horrors of the night crawling nether darkness; I’ve got monsters and demons and missing fucking goddesses and creatures whose footsteps burn the night and wards failing and meetings – bloody hell, I’ve got blooding fucking fiscal meetings with the director’s board – and they’re doing this with Facebook?!” Sharon Li, the unlikely hero of this tale, decides to use Facebook to start…
Heartless by Gail Carriger (The Parasol Protectorate #4) Orbit Books (July 2011) Paperback, 311 pages Steampunk Romance Warning: contains spoilers for previous books Heartless by Gail Carriger picks up where Blameless left off, with the pregnant Lady Alexia Maccon continuing to cause all manners of trouble whilst still having time to stop for those all-important cups of tea. Our heroine is eight months pregnant and frustrated with her inabilities to function as she used to, as mobility is fast becoming an issue. The frequent scenes in which she has to be…
The Iron Wyrm Affair (Bannon and Clare # 1) by Lilith Saintcrow | Orbit Books (Aug 2012) Paperback, 323 pages | Steampunk Emma Bannon, a Prime sorceress specializing in dark magic has been given a job of finding and protecting mentaths by Queen Victrix. Mentaths are being killed and Emma finds herself responsible for keeping the last surviving mentath, Archibald Clare, safe which proves to be a dangerous job. They are proverbial chalk and cheese and establish an uneasy relationship in the beginning of the novel. Bannon is well turned out, has a…
13 (Women of the Otherworld #13) by Kelley Armstrong PUBLISHER: Orbit (UK) | Penguin (USA) RELEASE DATE: July 2012 FORMAT: Hardback, 444 pages GENRE: Urban Fantasy War is coming to the Otherworld. A sinister cult known as The Supernatural Liberation Movement is hell-bent on exposing the truth about supernaturals to the rest of the world. Their violent, ruthless plan has put everyone at risk: from werewolves to vampires, from witches to half-demons. Savannah Levine – fiery and unpredictable – stands at the heart of the maelstrom. There is a new, dark…
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN (The Immortal Empire #1) by Kate Locke PUBLISHER: Orbit RELEASE DATE: 3rd July 2012 FORMAT: Paperback, 354 pages GENRE: Urban Fantasy London, present day – and Queen Victoria still rules with an immortal fist. She’s the undead matriarch of a Britain where the Aristocracy is made up of werewolves and vampires, where goblins live underground and mothers know better than to let their children out after dark. A world where technology lives side by side with magic, where being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side effects…
