New Reviews Online

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With the unfortunate closure of Realms of Fantasy, the review column I submitted for the December 2011 issue has been orphaned. (Even another miracle save would probably lead to delays and then the reviews wouldn’t be timely, and we can’t have that, can we?) With that in mind, I’ve uploaded the contents to my website. Please click through to check out the following reviews:

Variant, by Robison Wells
Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst
The Shattering, by Karen Healy
The Death Catchers, by Jennifer Anne Kogler
Wildefire, by Karsten Knight
Texas Gothic, by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Forever, by Maggie Stiefvater
Blood Feud, by Steven A. Roman

As always, I welcome any discussion or comments.

Drink, Slay, Love, by Sarah Beth Durst (Simon & Schuster, 2011)

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Teen vampire Pearl’s life is thrown into disarray when she’s staked by a unicorn. Instead of killing her, the experience changes her, granting her the ability to survive in sunlight. Her Family promptly sends her to infiltrate high school, to find victims for the impending visit of their king and his retinue, a traditionally bloody affair. Unfortunately, as Pearl learns to fit in among human teenagers, she develops an inconvenient conscience, and acquires some unexpected friends. With two different aspects of her life vying for dominance, Pearl has to decide who and what she is. Durst takes the superficially silly idea and injects it with humor, drama, and rich characterization, playing the “fish out of water” theme for all it’s worth. One of the most entertaining vampire books to come along in a while.

Variant, by Robison Wells (HarperTeen, 2011)

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When Benson Fisher receives a scholarship to the exclusive Maxfield Academy, he dreams of finally escaping the never-ending string of foster homes. What he discovers, is far worse. Part prison, part Darwinist nightmare, there is no escape from the arbitrary rules and unpredictable schedule, save for death. There are no teachers; the students run everything from administration and security, to trash and cooking, all under the constant surveillance of their unseen, all-knowing captors. Benson’s desperate plans to break free destroy the fragile truce between the student-led groups, and reveal the horrifying truth behind the school’s purpose. Intense and suspenseful, this dystopian thriller is punctuated by genuine surprise twists, and capped by an ending sure to leave readers demanding more.

The Shattering, by Karen Healy (Little, Brown, 2011)

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Keri, Janna and Sione have one thing in common: they’ve each lost an older brother under tragic circumstances. Convinced that it’s more than coincidence, they dig deep, discovering a rash of similar deaths over the years, all linked to their peaceful New Zealand town. Now they have to deal with a supernatural threat which stands ready to take another life in the near future. Can they unmask their enemy before anyone else gets hurt? With a multicultural cast, an intriguing setting, and a genuine sense of mystery and foreboding, this is an unforgettable read. The characters are rich and complex, the magic is subtle, and the story satisfying.

The Death Catchers, by Jennifer Anne Kogler (Walker, 2011)

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When she turns fourteen, Lizzy Mortimer discovers that she, like her grandmother, is a Hand of Fate. Gifted with the knowledge of when someone close to her is going to die, she’s able to alter that fate if she so chooses. However, this also makes her a pawn in an ancient prophecy stemming from the days of Camelot. Now she must try to prevent the death of her crush, Drake Westfall, and stop the ancient sorceress Vivienne le Mort from destroying the world. The narrative tone is on the light side (written as an essay to a teacher, with plenty of conversational tangents), and the mixture of themes is a little unwieldy, but this is still a fun, fast-paced story with real potential.

Wildefire, by Karsten Knight (Simon & Schuster, 2011)

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In the wake of a tragic incident involving her rebellious older sister and a classmate, Ashline Wilde transfers to a private school in California, hoping to start over quietly. Instead, she learns that she, like several other students, is a reincarnated god. In her case: a Polynesian fire goddess. Each has some task to play in preventing Ragnarok, but details remain hazy. Now Ash must balance normal high school demands with her divine status, and things get worse when her sister turns up, with powers of her own and an alternative agenda, threatening to divide loyalties. This supernatural drama reads like a soap operatic Percy Jackson, only with much more cultural diversity and an edge. I wish we’d gotten some more details about the mythological aspects, and the ending was maddeningly abrupt, but this is still an excellent book, well worth checking out.

Texas Gothic, by Rosemary Clement-Moore (Delacorte, 2011)

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Amy Goodnight is determined to be the face of normality among her family of witches. However, that can’t help her when she ends up house-sitting on her aunt’s Texas ranch. Corpses keep turning up, the handsome cowboy next door is a pain in her rear, there are ghosts lurking, and if Amy can’t learn the truth behind a centuries-old murder, she’ll never have any peace. Not to mention, someone wants the truth to remain hidden, at any cost. With her customary blend of humor and paranormal drama, Clement-Moore delivers an intriguingly strange ghost story/murder mystery. Come for the plot, stay for the characters, and leave satisfied.

Blood Feud, by Steven A. Roman (Starwarp Concepts, 2011)

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After Goth teen Pandora Zwieback is sent to live with her father in New York City, she discovers that she’s not crazy, she really does see monsters. Teaming up with an immortal monster hunter and a cute guy, she gets dragged into a bizarre war between vampire clans, with a mysterious artifact as the MacGuffin and the fate of the world at stake. The overall concept is solid and entertaining, with Pan providing an appropriately snarky viewpoint. The action scenes are plentiful and cinematic, while the setting is ripe with potential. However, significant portions of the book are narrated by adult characters, making it feel like it’s not entirely Pan’s story. Pacing issues and a whiplash-inducing ending further drag down an otherwise strong beginning.

Forever, by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic, 2011)

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Sam is a werewolf cured of his curse. His girlfriend Grace was turned into a wolf to save her life. Now, as winter comes to an end, they can be together again. Unfortunately, too many mysteries surround Grace’s disappearance to make their reunion a smooth one. Worse, a local politician is determined to exterminate the wolves of Mercy Falls, unaware that some of them used to be human. It’s a race against time for Grace and Sam, and their friends, to save the wolf pack, even as they fight for their happy ending. This conclusion to the trilogy is haunting and romantic, as well as emotionally raw and full of stark imagery. The only drawback is an ending steeped in vagueness and uncertainty, all but demanding a follow-up. It’s still a thought-provoking, creative take on werewolves, unlike anything else out there.

Alas, Poor Realms of Fantasy

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I’m afraid I have some sad news where Realms of Fantasy is concerned. Yet again, the magazine is closing, as the current publishers can no longer afford to keep it going properly. This makes the third closure for Realms in under five years, and even I, the ever-optimistic one, can’t exactly hope for yet another miracle. In this economy, in this time of marketplace change and technological evolution, print genre magazines have been a dying breed for years. That’s the sad, simple truth. I can’t hope for yet another idealistic publisher with deep pockets and a Quixotic dream to come along. It would be nice, and it would be beautiful, but I’m prepared to accept that this is most likely the end. Sigh.

That said, my five-and-change years with Realms of Fantasy have been nothing short of awesome. I’ve worked with some spectacular people, met untold numbers of excellent authors, and been part of something magnificent. I’ve been able to indulge in something I love, month after month, and expose a much larger audience to all sorts of books. I can’t complain about that. I can definitely hold my head up high. Special thanks go to Shawna McCarthy for being the spirit of the magazine for all these years, and Doug Cohen, who’s been one of the best editors ever. Should the magazine somehow revive again, they’d better be on the new publisher’s speed dial.

This isn’t completely bad news. You can’t keep a good book reviewer down. I’ll still be covering YA books for whatever venues I can find. Some might go to SF Site or the Green Man Review or my own website. Also, I’ll be contributing reviews to Tor.com. I’ll have more details on that soon, but you will definitely see my YA book reviews on Tor.com in the near future. So keep those review copies, ARCs, and queries coming. And if anyone else is willing to give me a review platform, I’m open to negotiations!

So let’s raise our drinks to Realms of Fantasy.