Staff Recommendations
Daryl M.
Pages
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Sorcerer to the crown
by Cho, Zen,
November 16, 2015
Call Number:
It is a difficult time for The Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers. While they are one of the most respected organizations in pursuit of the study and practice of magic in the world, certainly the foremost in all of England, recent events have thrown the society into chaos. While there are many Unnatural Philosophers, or Thaumaturges, in England only a magic-user with a familiar (a native of Fairyland who has chosen to exile itself and bond with a human) may call himself a Sorcerer. And the number of Sorcerers within England has been declining at an alarming rate for years. Some blame the... Read Full Review
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The Goblin emperor
by Addison, Katherine.
October 19, 2015
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The concept of nice guys finishing last is seen as weakness, perhaps indicating that someone does not have the drive to succeed, and only the ruthless and conniving can win. In novels, it is rare to find a character with noble intentions, and not have them overcome gallant feats, because there is no entertainment value in simply watching someone live their daily life and do what is right. In real life there are small challenges, with accordingly small victories or setbacks. Most entertainment, whether in film, television or books, emphasizes that this is not exciting. Sarah Monette’s... Read Full Review
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The end of all things
by Scalzi, John, 1969-
October 5, 2015
Call Number: SF
At the end of The Last Colony and Zoe’s Tale, the third and fourth books respectively, of John Scalzi’s “Old Man’s War” series, the Colonial Union (CU), the human political/military force that had been farming the Earth for more... Read Full Review
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Six of Crows
by Bardugo, Leigh
August 31, 2015
Call Number: YA
The heist--an attempt to acquire something incredibly important or valuable from somewhere equally, incredibly impenetrable. The catch is to survive the heist and reap the benefits of the nefarious and illegal act. This type of action requires a team of people with specific skills and knowledge to provide a way to penetrate a strong defense system. And each of these people has their own motivations for taking on the challenge. Heist stories can be compelling and fascinating as the reader learns what the plan is and how each character will contribute to its undertaking. These stories can be... Read Full Review
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The fold
by Clines, Peter, 1969-
August 17, 2015
Call Number: SF
Teleportation is a staple of speculative fiction whether in short stories, novels, films or television. It also crosses the boundaries between fantasy and science fiction. In fantasy, it is generally accomplished by magic (which, as any good reader of speculative fiction knows from Arthur C. Clarke’s three laws of prediction, is indistinguishable from any sufficiently advanced technology) although, there may be some limitations. In the Harry Potter series, teleportation is referred to as apparation or disapparation, and you have to secure a license before you can perform the spell to ensure... Read Full Review
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Go set a watchman : a novel
by Lee, Harper,
July 27, 2015
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Go Set A Watchman, the second, and only other novel published by Harper Lee, Pulitzer Prize winning author of To Kill A Mockingbird, and the new novel is already shrouded in controversy: Did Lee REALLY want the book published? Was she competent to make the decision? WHY was the book being published now? Was this a sequel to To Kill A Mockingbird? A prequel? Or was it something entirely different? The literary furor increased just prior to the publication date as reviewers began to make claims about the book's worthiness, and that well known, established... Read Full Review
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Time salvager
by Chu, Wesley.
July 13, 2015
Call Number: SF
What will the 26th century be like? In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World people are under the strict control of a World State. Vin Diesel’s films, Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick and Riddick, show a universe of advanced technologies, interplanetary space travel and different types of bad guys and beasties. Joss Whedon’s television series Firefly, and motion picture Serenity, focus on the crew of a small ship providing services on the fringes of a large,... Read Full Review
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Fairest : Levana's story
by Meyer, Marissa.
June 16, 2015
Call Number: YA
Villains! We love them, but we also love to hate them. Often works of speculative fiction, whether they are books, television series or films, hinge upon the effectiveness of the villain. And as our culture has become more entranced with the “bad guys/girls” in our favorite works, authors and filmmakers have brought them out of the darkness and into the light, at times placing them center stage for explorations of their origins and motivations. When this is done, there is the risk of disappointing fans if the back story doesn’t really match up, or seems to fit the scoundrel we love to hate. A... Read Full Review
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The cutting room : dark reflections of the silver screen
May 11, 2015
Call Number: SS
Horror stories infused with elements of the supernatural and, by design, created to fill the reader with a sense of dread and foreboding, have been around for as long as people have gathered around fires in the dark. The first published horror novels date back to the 18th century, with horror becoming a true phenomenon in the 19th with the publication of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818), the works of Edgar Allan Poe (1820s-1840s), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886), The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1890) and... Read Full Review
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The house of silk : a Sherlock Holmes novel
by Horowitz, Anthony, 1955-
April 13, 2015
Call Number: M
While Batman is often described as the world’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes must be the world’s best known. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s consulting detective has been thrilling readers for almost 130 years with his masterful uses of reasoning, disguise and deduction to solve almost any crime. Doyle’s original Holmes adventures can be found in four novels and 56 short stories. These have been adapted to stage, radio, television and film, and the characters have been used by many authors for additional adventures as well. The house of silk is one of the new adventures. ... Read Full Review
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A darker shade of magic
by Schwab, V. E., 1987-
March 20, 2015
Call Number: Ed.a
What if there were multiple Londons? Four vastly different but parallel cities existing simultaneously in the same location? A Grey London, dark and dirty, ruled by a mad king and almost completely devoid of magic. A Red London, bright and beautiful, where a benevolent monarchy rules over a flourishing, magic-infused empire. A White London, where the throne is attained through treachery and dominance, and the populace struggles to control a form of magic that is as rebellious and untrustworthy as they are. And a Black London, source of the most powerful--and... Read Full Review
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Among others
by Walton, Jo.
March 9, 2015
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Morwenna Phelps has had an interesting--and challenging--childhood. She and her twin sister, Morganna, grew up in Wales searching for, and playing with, the fairies who live in the local industrial ruins. Their mother, Liz, is a witch and also quite mad. When Liz attempts to take control of the fairies, the twins attempt to stop her. Morganna is killed, and Morwenna is gravely injured. She is then sent to live with the father who abandoned them as babies, and he promptly packs her off to a girls’ boarding school in western England. There’s no magic in England, or so little as not worth... Read Full Review