Mercury Rises is, above all things, a humorous book. It made me laugh, snicker, giggle, and snort (an embarrassing but satisfying thing to happen in the middle of a crowded room).
urban fantasy
Guest Review: “Dead Reckoning” by Charlaine Harris
I get a bit exhausted for Sookie. There are always someone or some things “out to get her.” Throughout Book 11, there are constant threats from different sources, and Sookie is on high alert most of the novel. Sookie still struggles with being a good person, for her world is continually violent and evil visits her seemingly day in and day out. In Dead Reckoning, you don’t see her grow much as a character, as she doesn’t have time to do much of anything except try to stay alive.
Review: “Red Glove” by Holly Black
Red Glove is promoted as a YA novel, although I’d put it more at the 18 year old to adult end of the spectrum than the 13-16 year old range. If your kids are old enough to watch the “Sopranos” or “The Riches” and they like those shows, then this is the right book. Much like those shows, Red Glove contrasts the supposed glamour of a criminal lifestyle with the pain it causes our hero. A younger reader might only see the glamour and magic and miss the misery.
Cover to Cover #445: Jon F. Merz
Interview: This week, our guest is Jon F. Merz, and the latest book in his Lawson Vampire series is The Kensei. Lawson is fixer in the vampire world, and his primary mission is to protect the secrecy of their existence.
Cover to Cover #441: Mercedes Lackey
Interview: This week’s guest is Mercedes Lackey, whose newest anthology Trio of Sorcery from Tor Books is a collection of two stories featuring her popular urban fantasy heroines, Diana Tregarde and Jennifer Talldeer, plus a new story with a new heroine, technoshaman Ellen McBridge.
Cover to Cover #431A: Larry Correia
Interview: Mike and Mike talk with Larry Correia about his newest book, Monster Hunter: Vendetta, and the world and monsters he’s created.
Monster Hunters International introduces us to a corporation of specialty contractors who “take care of” supernatural monsters, collecting the bounties on them, and at the moment, there are two books out in the MHI series, with another 8 under contract.
Cover to Cover #421A: Kelley Armstrong
Interview: This week, Mike and Mike chat with Kelley Armstrong about the eleventh novel in her “Otherworld” series, Waking the Witch.
Cover to Cover #420A: Marjorie M. Liu
Interview: This week, Mike and Mike welcome Marjorie M. Liu back on the show to talk about her latest novel, A Wild Light, the latest volume in the “Hunter Kiss” series, following the battles of Maxine Kiss. In this story Maxine has to battle the darkness within herself, and she’s not so sure she will hold onto herself and win.
Review: “Black Blade Blues” by J. A. Pitts
The thing I love about urban fantasy is that it doesn’t take place in some pretend land where everyone can shoot lightning from their eyeballs – it’s here, where we live. There’s always the little extra bit of excitement that it could happen when the story is set in a town you’ve been to, maybe even lived in.
Review: “Waking The Witch” by Kelley Armstrong
It’s difficult to keep a long running series fresh and interesting for the fans (and the author). Ms. Armstrong has achieved this in a number of ways, most obviously by changing the lead character in each book. But she also provides quality world building, well plotted mysteries and characters who grow and change in each book.
Cover to Cover #407A: Charlaine Harris
Interview: This week, Mike and Mike chat with Charlaine Harris about Dead in the Family, the tenth novel in her Sookie Stackhouse series.
Charlaine talks about the challenges of maintaining continuity and even fixing previous errors, the impact of HBO series True Blood and how the fans are reacting to the deviation of the TV series from the written series, and more.
Cover to Cover #406A: Jim Butcher
Interview: This week, Mike Mennenga talks with Jim Butcher about the latest story in the Dresden Files series,Changes.
Jim talks about the new set of upheavals in Harry’s life, the pacing of the stories — and the news about the long-awaited Dresden Files Role Playing Game coming out soon (pre-orders are now available from Evil Hat Productions).
Cover to Cover #373A: Alma Alexander
Interview: Alma Alexander joins us this week to talk about her YA series “Worldweavers”, and the third book in the trilogy, Worldweavers: Cybermage.
The series is set in the Pacific Northwest, and makes good use of the mystical environment and the Native American influences found there, and has a strong young female protagonist, Thea Winthrop. From the Trickster, to Grandmother Spider, to incorporating a magical twist on Nikola Tesla and the Internet, the tales of the students at the Wandless Academy might be of interest to tweens and teens looking for something beyond Hogwarts.
Cover to Cover #365A: Marjorie M. Liu
Interview: Michael and Michael chat with Marjorie M. Liu about her urban fantasy series “Hunter Kiss”, and the newest book, Darkness Calls. The inspiration for the heroine, Maxine Kiss, and the world and war she lives in came from the old SciFi Channel promo featuring the tattoos coming to dinner.
Marjorie is also writing comics, and she just finished up “NYX” and is now working on “Dark Wolverine” for Marvel Comics.
Cover to Cover #354A: Jim Butcher
Interview: Mike and Mike chat with the inestimable Jim Butcher about his latest Dresden Files novel, Turn Coat. They talk about the search for storylines, the growth of characters, and the present and future potential for abuse of a character, and more.
Does writing a long series change the way a writer approaches the process of a new story, or of writing in general?
