M.A. Kropp: Writer, Blogger, GeekGirl. My Life. My Words. My Way.
My rating: 3 of 5 starsEdwina and Mary are sisters. living in an alternate Victorian London where they sell odds and ends they collect on nightly walks along the riverbank. They are also witches, and their whole lives have revolved around trying to keep that part secret. They and their father would move from town … Continue reading Friday Review: The Raven Spell (Conspiracy of Magic #1) by Luanne G. Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 starsTesla Crane, heiress and talented engineer, is on her honeymoon on a luxury space liner traveling from the Moon to Mars. She and her new husband are traveling under assumed names in order to try to gain some privacy. Along for the trip is Tesla's adorable service dog, Gimlet, a … Continue reading Friday Review: The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal
My rating: 4 of 5 starsWhen one of the family is accused of murdering his lover, a highborn woman who was living her year of being a Mendicant (a beggar, revered in this society and believed to provide blessings and forgiveness to those who help them), the laws of Lemanbuntunk require that the entire family … Continue reading Friday Review: The Necessary Beggar by Susan Palwick
My rating: 4 of 5 starsBack from her adventures on the Continent and reconciled with her werewolf husband, eight-months-pregnant Alexia Tarabotti has no time to rest, even with the immanent birth of her "infant inconvenience". The ghost in Madame Lefoux's workshop, near poltergeist stage, has revealed a plot to assassinate Queen Victoria. Never one to … Continue reading Friday Review: Heartless (Parasol Protectorate #4) by Gail Carriger
My rating: 4 of 5 starsAfter a plague kills most of his family, Winter and his daughters, Violin and Candlestick, emerge from their underground world into a contemporary Earth where the majority of the human population has mysteriously disappeared. The few remaining humans have no idea what happened or where the rest of humanity went. … Continue reading Friday Review: Winter’s Myths by Gage Greenwood
My rating: 4 of 5 starsIn this second installment of the Fall of Shannara quartet, we find Drisker Arc still imprisoned in the banished Druid stronghold of Paranor, and he is getting weaker as time goes on. If Paranor is not restored, he will eventually fade to nothing more than one more ghost haunting the … Continue reading Friday Review: The Skaar Invasion (Fall of Shannara #2) by Terry Brooks
If you look at the title of the book, you will likely think it is full of writing advice on how to "write that book already!" It's not. This book is all about the publishing process after you've written and polished that book. In that, the title does seem a bit deceiving, and I am … Continue reading Friday Review: Write That Book Already! by Sam Barry and Kathi Kamen Goldmark
My rating: 3 of 5 starsFirst, I will say that I picked this one up because revising has always been a chore for me. I know it needs done-my drafts are generally a mess! But it always seems such a daunting task that I get bogged down and end up procrastinating no end. I thought … Continue reading Friday Review: Getting the Words Right by Theodore A. Rees Cheney
My rating: 3 of 5 starsThis first installment in Peter David's Legions of Fire trilogy, based on the scifi TV show Babylon 5, picks up almost immediately where the show left Londo Molari. He has been crowned Emperor of the new Centauri republic, but he also has been implanted with a Keeper by the Drakh. … Continue reading Friday Review: The Long Night of Centauri Prime (Legions of Fire #1) by Peter David
My rating: 4 of 5 starsAntiquity's family name has been removed and the remaining members designated "Grey", meaning that in their past involvement in the war against invaders, her family's misdeeds have made them outcasts. Antiquity is searching for scrap metal to help her family survive when she stumbles on a functional battle mech buried … Continue reading Friday Review: The Tempered Steel of Antiquity Grey by Shawn Speakman
And So On... 