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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Reign or Shine – Michelle Rowen
Bloomsbury Allen & Unwin, 2010
288 pages
RRP: AU$16.99
ISBN: 978-0-8027-9534-2

Review by Liz Grzyb

Nikki Donovan is a typical teenager. She’s just moved to a new town and a new school after her mother married husband #4, and the Winter Formal is coming up! However, her dreams of the most popular boy in the school are disrupted by a strange boy who seems to be stalking her telling her bizarre stories about her father being a demon king.

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Worldshaker – Richard Harland
Allen & Unwin, 2009
384 pages
RRP: AU$17.99
ISBN: 9781741757095

Review by Liz Grzyb

Worldshaker is the story of Colbert Porpentine, heir to the position of Supreme Commander of the juggernaut Worldshaker. Unsurprisingly with a name like that, Colbert is one of the Elite class who live in the upper levels, lording it over the Filthies who occupy the bottom desk and do all the work. Col’s world is shaken up somewhat when he meets Riff, a Filthy who has escaped from the lower decks. She educates him in the true nature of the moving monolith they live in.

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The Crowded Shadows – Celine Kiernan (Moorehawke Trilogy #2)
Allen & Unwin, 2010
518 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 978-1-74175-870-2

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

The Crowded Shadows is a well-written second instalment in the Moorehawke Trilogy. Like the first novel, this has lovely characterisation, pacy action and interesting ideas. It does, however, suffer a little from being the middle child, as the story doesn’t come to a satisfying conclusion in this book, needing the third to finish the story.

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