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May 2008:
I will be announcing chances to win books over the next few weeks. The current giveaways include:
Circle: 05/11/08
The final story in the May issue of FSF is "Circle" by George Tucker and it makes up for the two previous stories.
"Circle" takes place in Miami during the recent real estate boom and it is written with a similar mixture of cynicism, humor and environmentalism as Carl Hiaasen's books are.
Billy Black, the protagonist, is the grandson of a Seminole shaman who decides to use the apparent haunting at a local construction site to his advantage. The way in which Black balances his heritage with his own desire for a piece of the real estate boom pie is what reminds me most positively of Hiaasen.
As Tucker explains in his interview, "The Circle" is based on actual events and he wrote a lengthy back story for Billy Black before finally settling on the twenty pages that make up this story. Having so enjoyed this short glimpse at Billy Black's life, I'd love to see George Tucker expand things either as a series of short stories, or as a novella or perhaps a full fledged novel.
To learn more, please read the interview on the FSF blog.
Read the reviews at The Fix, The Worm Seat.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | george tucker
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City of Light: 05/11/08
City of Light is a historical drama set during the time that Buffalo New York was converting to electricity with the building of turbines at Niagara Falls.
I read the book primarily for the setting and I loved the way Buffalo and Niagara Falls were described. It is in the building of the setting that Lauren Belfer excels.
Peal away the interesting history and what is left is a rather dull and obvious Agatha Christie type mystery mixed together with a Victorian melodrama. Louisa Barrett, the head mistress of a local girls school finds herself in the middle of a series of murders related to the new power station at Niagara Falls. As the father of her god daughter is the owner, she feels compelled to solve the mystery to protect the people she loves.
If the mystery wasn't enough, there is also Barrett's own personal tragedy and the truth behind her fondness for her God daughter who appears to be clinically depressed after the death of her mother.
The relationship between Louisa Barrett and Grace is where I started to lose interest in the book. I know I was supposed to feel empathy for Louisa for all the heartbreak she has suffered but I never really connected with her. Her personal story is buried under all the historical descriptions and the clues for the mystery to such a degree that it doesn't make sense for the novel to end on her personal tragedy because it feels like an after thought.
Read the reviews at Random Reflections, BookFix, Miss Keeks.
I read this book for the Themed Challenge.
books | mystery | fiction | lauren belfer
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Childhood Books: 05/11/08
This week's challenge comes from Samantha who asks us to write about our favorite childhood books.
With two young children of my own I've been spending a lot of my reading time reading my old favorites to them. In turn I blog about the books I read. Rather than write a lengthy post about books I remember reading, I'm going to list the books I have reviewed on my blog.
All work © 1997-2008 Sarah Sammis
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