Rob Thurman - Nightlife, Moonshine, Madhouse

Rob Thurman - Nightlife, Moonshine, Madhouse.
First three in the series, a half-elf - (although the Auphe are more like dark elf/goblins), his human brother (warrior noparriel), and their friends, Puck, a modern Vampire, an oracle. The first is a bit rough, but the writing gets better as it goes. The plots are good, adventure/mystery in the modern world with hidden monsters, compares favorably with Jim Butcher. an 8 the series.

John Levitt - Dog Days

John Levitt - Dog Days. 20080410. Modern fantasy. a bit unpolished much like the early Butcher novels, I was a bit surprized to find it was his 3rd book, it felt more like a first novel. The characters took a bit to develop but the plot went well. Magic structure was a bit simple, but then things were added to flesh it out more. Hook of being a musician who is also magical, but doesn't bother with it much is pretty good. Not bad at all, I was going to say it was a sort of a magic-mystery but it's not really a mystery, more an investigation where they already know who did it mostly. a 6. There's to be a sequel.

CHARLES DE LINT - MOONHEART

DE LINT, CHARLES. MOONHEART. Old pre Arthurian Celtic, Talsien and Magwin (Merlin) come to America or at least Canada. Also native American Canadian stuff mantious. All very very neat, the House reminds me of the house in Little Big and the characters are well likable and the story is nice, fulfilling, sad that friends were lost but the evil was overcome and things are good. a 10

DE LINT, CHARLES. SPIRITWALK. SEQUEL TO MOONHEART - And a good one too, more a collection of stories containing the same characters, or a few short stories that are linked and one long piece I think moonheart was better but only because it was all one long piece. a 9

Christopher Moore - A Dirty Job

One that just make you want even more Moore. Back to San Francisco, with several supporting characters from previous books (including the Emperor of SF) chock full of dark humor, and light humor, and adventure, and death. Lots of deaths actually. Sort of a Santa's helpers for Death. Plus used bookstores and thrift stores and used record/cd stores. And all the Deaths of history and mythology. Hellhounds and battle crows, true love, and squirrel people. a 9. superb, probably his best so far.

Mario Acevedo

Acevedo, Mario. The Nymphos of Rocky Flats. R. 20060919. TPB. Interesting vampire story, Gulf war syndrome a cover for vampirism, UFO's, Roswell, vampire hunters, Nymphomaniacs, Red uranium, death and murder, and redemption. dryads, and potions, and turning people to frogs! Secret vampire organization. a Mexican-American vampire P.I. investigating the nymphos, secret DOE compound. then the weirdness starts. pretty good adventure. a 6.


Mario Acevedo - X-Rated Bloodsuckers, sequel to Nymphos. R. 200801? TPB. It has the elements of the original, but not the angst, and unfortunately not the level of sarcastic humour. The ideas are there, but the humour just didn't come across as well. Still fun, and a good adventure, set in the valley this time, with vampires and porn stars and evangelists, but not quite as good as the first. a 5.

CHARLES DE LINT - The IVORY AND THE HORN

DE LINT, CHARLES. IVORY AND THE HORN, THE. R. 199902. a 10, as good as anything he's done and he's at the top of the modern fantasy stuff. a collection of shorts, several of which were enough to get me teary, strong emotional stuff.