What do you get when you get when you shake together a little Harry Potter, a little Chronicles of Narnia, and all the sex and drugs that Rowling and Lewis didn’t want to believe young adults were capable of? If you’re Lev Grossman—a senior writer and book critic for Time magazine and author of the well-received literary thriller Codex—then you get The Magicians, his latest novel. (In a fascinating twist, I am reviewing a book written by a book reviewer.) And yes, this is the same book I mentioned in the Martin review last week!

This is a book that contains many elements of both the Harry Potter series, and the Chronicles of Narnia series—which is done on purpose to make a point, and therefore it’s okay by me. Quentin Coldwater, the story’s main character, grew up reading a book series about English school children who travel to another world and have adventures in which good triumphs over evil. These books had a great deal of influence on Quentin, and he has always longed to be one of the Chatwins, and be selected to travel to the land of Fillory to partake in its wonders. Needless to say, Quentin is a little disappointed when he finds himself on the cusp of adulthood, walking to an interview for an Ivy League school instead of going on an adventure in Fillory.

Quentin is a fascinating character, in that he embodies so many things and somehow manages to be a real person on top of it. He is the consummate dissatisfied rich kid with more brains than common sense and more attitude than personality. At least at first. Quentin will get deep under your skin, and your understanding of him takes root quickly. He is everyone who has ever thought they were meant for something else in this world, or maybe meant for another world, and embodies that yearning perfectly. At least at first. (I’m going to keep saying that, in case you’re wondering.) Read the full story

WARNING: I’m going to mention Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series while reviewing this book. I don’t want to. I am doing this only because I am convinced that nearly everyone under the age of 25 knows nothing about vampires except what she told them (or maybe they picked up a few things from watching Interview With a Vampire—like that Tom Cruise looks weird with red hair). Thus, they expect me to draw the comparison when I am writing about other books containing vampires. The following is my mention of her series, and the expected comparison:

Fevre Dream is what Stephenie Meyer would have written if she was writing about a man, thought vampires should be interesting, and was actually a good author.

That said, let us move on to the review of Martin’s work.

It’s nearly guaranteed that you’ve heard of George R.R. Martin, even if you don’t know that you’ve heard of him. He made a name for himself as an award-winning short story author, and was a writer for the popular television series “Beauty and the Beast” in the 1980’s, and is now working on the 5th installment in a grand fantasy epic series called A Song of Ice and Fire, which led to his being dubbed, “The American Tolkien” by Lev Grossman in Time Magazine. (As a point of interest, Grossman himself has recently published a fantasy novel entitled The Magicians, which looks promising.) In a list compiled by Ross Lockhart (found in By Blood We Live) Fevre Dream is one of the books essential to the genre of vampire fiction.

In another words, I had high expectations for this book. I would say that I was pleasantly surprised to have those expectations met, but I wasn’t all that surprised. I’ve read Martin before. There was so much to enjoy about this book, but what I liked most was the thing that Martin is pretty famous for—his way of taking something traditional and adding a dark and inventive twist. Because this story does indeed contain all the elements of a traditional vampire tale, but with a distinctly Martin edge. Take, for example, that vampires are not undead humans in his story, but a completely different species. Take, for example, that it’s about a guy finding out about vampires, realizing there are good ones and bad ones, and getting involved in eliminating a bad one—but it’s all carried out on steamboats in the 1850’s around St. Louis. (When I started reading this book, my first thought was very simple: Vampires + Steamboats = ZOMG! Awesome!) Read the full story

A sequel to her best selling book The Dirty Girl’s Social Club, Dirty Girls on Top by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez follows the lives of long-time sucias (dirty girls) Elizabeth, Lauren, Rebecca, Sara, Cuicatl (Amber) and Usnavys as they try to navigate the highs and lows of relationships, children, sexuality, and staying true to themselves.

Chronicling events five years after the ending of The Dirty Girls Social Club, some of the sucias seem to have it all, and some of them─like journalist Lauren and TV producer Elizabeth─find their picture-perfect endings to be nothing but a hopeful fantasy. But even those who got their fairy tale endings for good wonder if living like a queen is really all it’s cracked up to be.

By describing events from each woman’s perspective, readers get a front row seat into each woman’s distinctly different psyche. It is this uncanny ability to be inside the heads of her characters that allows Valdes-Rodriguez to pull of a story like Dirty Girls on Top without it coming across as jarring or unbelievable.

While the book places a  heavy focus on the Latin culture and ideals that the women alternately strive to uphold and fight against, there is something that every reader─no matter what their culture or background─can relate to. In many ways, the characters in Dirty Girls on Top are reminiscent of Sex and the City, but have their own distinct flair that can’t be found anywhere else in the gorged chick-lit genre.

While readers that are at all familiar with other novels written by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez won’t be surprised by the in-your-face dialogue and sometimes raunchy take on womanhood and sexuality in Dirty Girls on Top, readers who are looking for a tame chick-lit novel should beware. Dirty Girls on Top is a open window into the lives of five very different women who have plenty of skeletons hiding in their Coach purses. Read the full story

Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy was criminally unadvertised, at least in the U.S. It had everything that other fantasy authors have—like epicness and war—plus it had actual authorial talent. Then, his stand-alone work (set in the same world) Best Served Cold was published, and somehow was given actual attention at my local bookstore. Go figure.

If you’ve read the First Law trilogy, you’ll know what Abercrombie’s strengths and weaknesses are, and basically have no need for my review of Best Served Cold. To this, I would only add that he has improved: the characters are even richer and the storytelling tightened up to pack better punch. However, the probability is high that you didn’t know Abercrombie existed, so I’d better go into some detail. Just to set the scene, let me say that the likes of Patrick Rothfuss and George R.R. Martin have received Joe Abercrombie’s work very well. (If you don’t know who Rothfuss and Martin are, I’m going to go have a good cry over the faith I’ve lost, then I’m going to teach you a thing or two about the fantasy genre.)

My first inclination was to say that Abercrombie sacrifices world-building in favour of character-building, but then I stopped and thought about it. The truth is, I can picture his world in fine detail, and I know plenty about it. But unlike many fantasy novels, Abercrombie builds the world through his characters’ perspective on it. Which is pretty awesome, actually. I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets tired of reading entire chapters in fantasy novels devoted to describing the sweeping majesty of the imperial city’s architecture, or the grand and intimidating mountains with their jagged peaks. You get to see Abercrombie’s city through the eyes of his characters, who are generally concerned with whether or not the buildings are on fire or easy to infiltrate. It’s a refreshing way to do things, and one which I really appreciate.

As the title suggests, this is a book about revenge. The main character, Monzcarro Murcatto, is a highly experienced mercenary working for a duke. She and her brother Benna have been mercenaries most of their lives, and their introductory scene makes it clear that they are very close to each other and very ruthless individuals. The duke decides that Monzcarro means to become popular and powerful enough to usurp him, so he lures them into a meeting and tries to murder them. He succeeds in murdering Benna, and thinks he succeeds in murdering her, and tosses both bodies off his balcony down a mountain. Monzcarro lands on her brother’s body and so survives, albeit with injuries that take months to heal and leave her looking permanently like something the cat dragged in. Read the full story