Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) – Gail Carriger
Grand Central Publishing Hachette, 2010
374 pages
RRP: AU$14.99
ISBN: 978-031-605663-2

Reviewed by Kate Smith

Soulless by Gail Carriger is simply too much fun!  With all the potential for disaster in the storyline, this novel of vampires and werewolves (and parasols) avoids all the stereotyping of current vampire novels and entertains in a most wonderful and amusing way.  Carriger employs a turn of phrase at just the correct moment, eliciting smiles and even giggles at times.  I so thoroughly enjoyed this story that I am currently hunting down the next, Changeless.

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Angels’ Blood (Guild Hunter #1)- Nalini Singh
Hachette Livre Gollancz, 2010
340 pages
RRP: AU$22.95
ISBN: 978-057-509572-4

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Angels’ Blood is the first in the Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh. She already has quite a following for her sexy paranormal Psy-Changeling series (the first title in that series, Slave to Sensation is also reviewed on Ticon4.com) and by the looks of it, Guild Hunter will be snapping at its heels. The Guild Hunter in question here is Elena Devereaux, a vampire tracker and bounty hunter whose new job doesn’t just involve vampires. She is now working for the drop-dead gorgeous Archangel Raphael, ruthless and terrifyingly inhuman, yet caring and overwhelmingly attractive. Working with angels isn’t like you’d imagine — in this world they are immensely powerful and beautiful, yet they are also the Makers of vampires. This first instalment of the series is packed with drama, intrigue and attraction, and provides a nice balance between the action and the… er… action.

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An Echo in the Bone (Outlander #7) – Diana Gabaldon
Hachette Livre Orion, 2009
810 pages
RRP: AU$35
ISBN: 978-075-289848-3

Reviewed by Debbie Wilson

An Echo in the Bone is Diana Gabaldon’s 125^th 7^th Outlander novel. The year is 1777 and the American rebellion is gathering momentum. Jamie and Claire are in danger (again), travel from America to Scotland (again), and Claire flits between the 1700s and the 1900s (again).

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Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changeling #1) – Nalini Singh
Hachette Livre Gollancz, 2010
334 pages
RRP: AU$22.99
ISBN: 978-057-509566-3

Reviewed by Kate Smith

I initially bypassed this novel as not a story that I would be interested in reading, however I am pleased that I took the time to read Slave to Sensation.  This does not mean that the story is a classic, but it is a good example of its genre.  Not having read the two further novels in the psy-changeling series, I am a little apprehensive that there will be repetition of ideas or premises with different names inserted, but hopefully Singh will be able to integrate three different stories smoothly, each supported by the others without being the same.

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Death Most Definite (Death Works #1) – Trent Jamieson
Orbit Hachette Livre, 2010
374 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 978-073-362483-4

Review by Liz Grzyb

Brisbane has certainly been producing some awesome SF writers, and Trent Jamieson is most definitely one of them. Ticon4.com has published short fiction from Jamieson before, so we were eagerly awaiting his first novel. Death Most Definite does not disappoint. It’s a pacy, gritty chase through our world and the underworld.

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Horns – Joe Hill
Hachette Livre Gollancz, 2010
437 pages
RRP: AU$32.99
ISBN: 978-057-507917-5

Reviewed by Kate Smith

Horns was an interesting read, however I was initially thrown off by the blurb on the back, the phrasing of which made me imagine the story would be very different in terms of tone.  Once I had reconciled expectations and reality, I was able to settle in to enjoy a generally well written tale of a man’s journey to discover why he lost everything.

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FlashForward – Robert J Sawyer
Hachette Livre Gollancz, 2009
320 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 978-057-509101-6

Reviewed by Kate Smith

FlashForward is the story of a science experiment that results in unexpected consequences and discusses the nature of time and whether the future can be altered.  Having never watched the TV series that appeared some time recently I cannot say whether it was accurate to the text, however I’m sure that it was faster moving than the novel.  FlashFoward was a very interesting read but was not exactly a page turner that keeps you up until three in the morning.  Having said that, not all novels need to be, and FlashForward asks you to think about the concepts it brings to mind rather than skimming through a straight forward plot.

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Saturn’s Children – Charles Stross
Orbit Hachette Livre, 2009 (reprint)
372 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 978-1-84149-568-2

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Saturn’s Children is about Freya, a humanoid robot designed as a concubine for the human race. Unfortunately, the human race has been extinct for 200 years and the new aristos don’t have much of a fondness for humanoids.

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Chasing the Dragon – Justina Robson
Hachette Livre Gollancz, 2010
400 pages
RRP: AU$32.99
ISBN: 978-057-508562-6

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

This is the fourth instalment in Justina Robson’s Quantum Gravity series. I enjoyed the first two, but missed #3, Going Under. When reading Chasing the Dragon, I noticed quite a few story arcs and characters that would be confusing to the new entrant to the series or if you missed one or more of the novels. If you enjoy a mix of SF and fantasy, cyberpunk mixed with magic and dragons, you’ll enjoy reading the whole series.

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A Madness of Angels – Kate Griffin
Hachette Livre Orbit, 2009
472 pages
RRP: AU$22.99
ISBN: 978-1-84149-733-4

Reviewed by Kate Smith

A Madness of Angels was a read that I could not put down, enjoyable not only because it was an interesting story but also because it was different to the norm of this genre of novel.  While the plot for the story does not appear to be particularly distinct from the blurb, from the first chapter it is clear that there is something different to Griffin’s work.  Matthew Swift is a sorcerer who has been fundamentally betrayed by his mentor and friend.  He must bring together groups with little in common apart from their enemy to find ways to trust each other and to work together to bring about the demise of the monolithic organisation that is the evil within London.  However, despite what appears to be several familiar story lines, including the seeking of revenge, there is so much more to this novel.

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