Witch Fire (Elemental Witches, Book 1) Review
By Flames | May 7, 2008
The line between good and evil is clearly drawn in the first Elemental Witches novel. Coven = good. Duskoff Cabal = evil. Mira Hoskins doesn’t know she’s an air witch until there’s a home invasion, where she’s rescued/kidnapped by fire witch Jack McAllister who claims he’s hiding her away for her own good. Jack trains Mira to use her magick until the time comes to move to the Coven in Chicago.
Review by Tez Miller
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Magic Burns Fiction Review
By Flames | April 19, 2008
I love the world-building. Atlanta has two stages in time – tech (when life is as we know it) and magic. But the transitions between the two are getting faster, and Celtic mythology comes to life. (That sounds vague, I know, but I didn’t really understand it.)
Kate Daniels (whose father is supposedly Russian, but you wouldn’t know it from her surname) still has her almighty saber Slayer, but also has a new companion: teenager Julie, whose wannabe witch mother is missing.
Review by Tez Miller
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Claimed by Shadow Fiction Review
By Matt-M-McElroy | April 18, 2008
This is book two of series, and admittedly I had not read Touch the Dark. I was hoping that there would be enough context to bring me into the story and setting without feeling lost. Although Ms. Chance does offer a few lines here and there of Cassie talking about past events, I still felt a little lost. Not huge deal though because the book starts off with plenty of action. Even with me not knowing exactly who some of the characters are…things were certainly interesting. Cassie is looking for a little help in her ongoing feud with some of the vampires. She is hanging out at a supernatural brothel and causing a little bit of trouble along the way.
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Dead to Me Fiction Review
By Flames | April 7, 2008
In Dead to Me, reformed petty-crime naughty boy and psychometrist Simon Canderous (whose surname probably means something, but I haven’t checked the dictionary yet) works for New York’s Department of Extraordinary Affairs. Psychometry made me think of Kim Wilkins’s Gina Champion series, and the government made me think of Shane Maloney’s Murray Whelan series. But Anton Strout’s Simon Canderous is neither a teenage girl nor a political adviser (and not Australian, for that matter).
Review by Tez Miller
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Interview with author Yasmine Galenorn
By Flames | March 31, 2008
USA Today bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes the Otherworld/Sisters of the Moon Series for Berkley (Witchling, Changeling, Darkling, etc.). In the past, she wrote the paranormal Chintz ‘n China Mystery Series, the Bath & Beauty Mystery Series (the latter written as India Ink) and eight nonfiction metaphysical books. With Darkling, she hit the extended NYT bestseller’s list.
Yasmine has been in the Craft for over 28 years, is a shamanic witch, and describes her life as a blend of teacups and tattoos. She lives in Bellevue WA with her husband Samwise and their four cats.
In this interview, we sit down with Yasmine to talk about her success on bestseller list, how her nonfiction work has influenced her writing, and her involvement with an online auction, created by writer Brenda Novak, to raise funds to find a cure for diabetes.
Topics: Interviews | 6 Comments »
Magic Bites Fiction Review
By Flames | March 29, 2008
Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck merc who has enough trouble paying the bills that the last thing she needs is taking on a charity case. But when her guardian, a member of a magical group of public defenders known as the Order, is murdered, she’s determined to see the last of her family given justice. In order to do so, she has to play nice with the Order, which she left years ago due to her problems accepting authority. When it turns out that both the People–necromancers who use vampires as spies and assassins when it’s good for business–and the shape-changing members of the Pack may be involved, things quickly move from complicated to delicate. And delicate isn’t a word that anyone would associate with Kate Daniels.
Review by Alana Abbott
Topics: Fiction Reviews | 1 Comment »
Axiom-Man: Of Magic and Men Review
By Flames | March 25, 2008
Axiom-Man is a superhero whose true identity is a bumbling social introvert named Gabriel Garrison. Gabriel works in an office and he’s madly in love with Valerie Vaughn, the gorgeous coworker who predictably won’t give him the time of day. Axiom-Man’s conduit to the rest of the world, especially its seedy underbelly, is Sgt. Jack Gunn, an old school lawman with whom he shares a love-hate-love relationship of mutual necessity. If you’re keeping track, that’s one Superman, a Clark Kent, Lois Lane with a twist of Vicky Vale, and a generous helping of Commissioner Gordon. These clichés don’t exactly stop this story dead, but they certainly don’t make for the most compelling read either.
Review by Jason Thorson
Topics: Comic Book/Graphic Novel Reviews | 1 Comment »
Lives of Necromancers
By Flames | March 16, 2008
Bards and Sages releases Lives of Necromancers. In 1834, William Godwin published Lives of Necromancers, an overview of legendary and historic figures associated with the occult. Godwin’s work was more than a who’s who of known magicians and sorcerers, however, but also a critical examination of what he called the “credulity of the human mind.” Godwin was intrigued not only by the human mind’s capacity to conjure up such supernatural fantasies, but to also accept such supernatural ideas as fact.
This reprint brings you the original text without editorial comment and footnotes. We have made some formatting changes in the interest of readability, and culled a variety of public domain sources to add relevant illustrations to highlight the work. Readers interested in the history of occultism and its impact on culture will find this work a fascinating read that offers an interesting perspective on such figures as Dr. John Dee, Faustus, Merlin, Medea, The Witch of Endor, and dozens of others.
Lives of Necromancers is available at RPGNow.com
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Magic Lost, Trouble Found Fiction Review
By Flames | March 9, 2008
A sorceress with attitude manages to get her hands on a powerful artifact, which suddenly makes her the most popular (read: most hunted) girl in town. It sound like a great set up, right? That’s how Raine Benares begins her adventures in Magic Lost, Trouble Found, narrating the entire adventure with wry commentary and snarky remarks. For fans of contemporary fantasy, the narration style is a familiar one. Throw it into a high fantasy setting where the narrator is an elven seeker–a sorceress who finds things–and it makes for an odd combination.
Review by Alana Abbott
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Flash Fire Mini-Reviews (Books of Magic)
By Matt-M-McElroy | February 29, 2008
The Flash Fire Mini-Reviews are back with a mix of fiction, games and comics this week. Mages, Wizards, Witches and other spell-slinging heroes, villains and monsters make appearances in this collection of reviews.
We’re looking at a variety of magical styles, ranging from the dark and evil to the divinely inspired. I’m not talking about spellbooks here, but magic wielding characters or plots about magic in the world around them. We’ve got Harry Dresden, Willow and Redcloak alongside some Live-Action Mage and the Unwanted.
Anyway, let’s get on with those mini-reviews…
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Magic: the Motion Picture?
By Matt-M-McElroy | February 22, 2008
One of my sources at Wizards of the Coast tells me that there is going to be a Magic: the Gathering movie. This is part of the press release from Hasbro:
Hasbro Inc. (HAS) and Universal Pictures formed a six-year strategic partnership to produce at least four motion pictures based on brands such as Monopoly, Candy Land, Ouija, Battleship, Magic: the Gathering and Stretch Armstrong.
Hasbro, a Pawtucket, R.I., producer of entertainment products, said the first movie will be released in 2010 or 2011, and Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, will release at least one film a year thereafter.
She did not have much in the way of specific details, but made promises to keep me in the loop as more news develops. Should be interesting to see how they put this film together. I don’t think we’re going to get another Lord of the Rings, but there are a lot of cool concepts in Magic that could do well on the big screen.
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Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures Review
By Monica Valentinelli | February 16, 2008
Great for writers and game designers, I’ve never come across a more thorough and massive work detailing creatures so rare you may not recognize them. There are two, other books in the series entitled, The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells and The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft. If either of those two books are as down-to-earth and fact-filled as this one, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy either one to add substance to my fantasy stories.
Topics: Nonfiction Reviews, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Review
By Monica Valentinelli | February 6, 2008
As the last of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the finishing touch to a series full of magic, mystery and friendship. Having read all of the books, I’m sure that fans of the series have either already picked up this book or will shortly. Still, there are interesting things to point out here that have left many readers feeling a little bit unsatisfied with the events that have happened here.
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Small Favor (Dresden Files) Review
By Flames | February 4, 2008
Sometimes, as an author, you might have it in your head that you’re going to write a very long story. Instead of writing an “epic novel” in one book, you break it up into smaller pieces so that when the end is in sight, the pieces fall together neatly like a stack of dominoes. Small Favor was, to me, one of the dominoes of the over-arching plot. While it tied up a lot of previous plots, it also opened the door to a host of questions for Thomas, Murphy, Michael and, of course, Dresden.
Review by Monica Valentinelli
Topics: Fiction Reviews, Reviews | 1 Comment »
The Fountain DVD Review
By Monica Valentinelli | January 31, 2008
I didn’t really know what to expect when I picked up The Fountain; I had read some other reviews of it before I went out and got it and was intrigued by Darren Aronosfky’s writing and film style. Going into it, I had thought it was a film about the fountain of youth, about a couple who were possessed with finding the mythic “fountain” to restore and heal Izzy (played by Rachel Weisz) from her terminal illness.
Topics: Reviews, TV Series and Movie Reviews | 2 Comments »
Solstice Wood Review
By Flames | January 29, 2008
Written by Patricia A. McKillip
Reviewed by Alana Abbott
Secrets weave upon secrets in McKillip’s tale of weaving witches who bind their neighboring fairies, keeping the otherworld at bay. When Sylvia’s grandfather dies and she becomes the heir to Lynn Hall, one of the places where this world and the other intersect, secrets she’s been trying to hide for years start coming to the surface. She never knew the identity of her father–her mother kept it secret until her death–but she knows that he wasn’t human.
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The Dresden Files TV Series Review
By Monica Valentinelli | January 2, 2008
The Dresden Files, a series of novels penned by Jim Butcher, came to the small screen in 2007 on the SciFi channel bringing with it some variations – both good and bad. This is a difficult review to write for two reasons. First, the series was canceled after only twelve episodes. In such a short period of time, there wasn’t a lot of ability for the directors to explore the setting in this format. As a result, the events in this series loosely resemble only a few, choice events from one or two books. Secondly, this television series didn’t feel like a literal translation from the novels and, as a result, could easily stand alone on its own merits.
Topics: TV Series and Movie Reviews | 4 Comments »
White Night (Dresden Files) Review
By Flames | June 2, 2007
The Ninth novel of the Dresden Files series, White Night advances the plot that has been building up for the last few books. This novel also features more than a few characters from previous books in what feels like a “Who has a beef with Harry?” vibe. Heroes and Villains show up in this story, trading blows and witty dialog throughout.
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Seraphs Review
By Flames | May 7, 2007
Within the realm of post-apocalyptic novels and settings, there are books that inject religion into fire and brimstone and then there are those that fast-forward into a totalitarian, bleak, hungry future where hope is a luxury. In the realm of Seraphs, the main character, Thorn St. Croix, lives in a world that is somewhere in between. Angels, demons, neo-mages (advanced humans that lack souls), and biology are all at play in an ice age following a biblically-inspired apocalypse.
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Season of the Witch Review
By Flames | May 7, 2007
Billed as an erotic thriller, Season of the Witch is a mentally-seductive tale of tragedy that delves deep into the occult. Before I go any further, I’d like to say that there are a lot of books within the spectrum of supernatural romance that are not soft-core. This is one of those books; personally didn’t think that it was “erotic” in the physical sense; hidden far deep beneath the layers of the plot is a subtle message that will make you stop and think, as if the alchemy in this tale has worked its magic on you.
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »