What are the canaries reading this week?
Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder
YA Fantasy Adventure
“Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.”
I loved the first book of this series, Touch of Power (Five Canaries, all the way). This sequel brings back Avry, Kerrick, and the gang – and a ravaging army that’s rampaging its way through the Fifteen Realms.
Blackcollar by Timothy Zahn
Sci-fi Space Adventure/Suspense
I read and sorta-not-really enjoyed my first encounter with Timothy Zahn’s writing. But having started this one, I’m right glad I have Zahn another try. Besides a story premise that tickles my reading bone (spies, covert operations, betrayal, secret missions, genetically engineered soldiers), the writing style is a world away from what I got from Spinneret.
Aliens have taken over Earth and its colony worlds, but after thirty years of occupation, a plot is brewing. The rebel underground on Earth sends Allen Caine on an undercover mission to another planet in hopes of contacting a unit of genetically enhanced guerrilla commandos – assuming they still exist and can be found.
Shoggoths in Bloom by Elizabeth Bear
Mish-mash of fantasy, scifi, historical, speculative, and awesome.
After nearly a year of wanting to read something by Elizabeth Bear, here is a collection of twenty short stories. I have no idea what I’m getting into, but I do know that Shoggoth is a creepy creature in the Lovecraft chuthlu world, so I’m pretty certain I’m in for a treat.
That, and you’ve gotta love the cover.
Dead Men’s Boots by Mike Carey
Urban Fantasy/Occult Detective
“You might think that helping a friend’s widow to stop a lawyer from stealing her husband’s corpse would be the strangest thing on your To Do list. But life is rarely that simple for Felix Castor.”
This is the third book in the series, following Felix Castor, a freelance exorcist and ghost banisher in London in a world where the dead – both corporeal and not – have risen.
In a job that’s part detecting, part snooping, and all sorts of dangerous, Felix has to navigate shady jobs, over-due bills, and murderous clients. More serious than Butcher’s Dresden Series, these novels are closer to Del Franco’s in style while bringing their very own wit, atmosphere and story to the table. Keep an eye out for a series review, coming soon.
The Book Canaries 