2009: Urban fantasy

Unrecorded urban fantasy books from 2009:


A Flash of Hex, Jes Battis - The second in Battis' urban fantasy series set in Vancouver and focusing on the exploits of paranormal forensics investigator Tess Corday it continues the story, gives us more information about Corday herself and about the relationships between the various supernatural communities, and tells a decent police procedural mystery. I'm enjoying the series.


Norse Code, Greg van Eekhout - satisfying debut that provides a modern, urban version of Ragnarok. I recommend this to fantasy fans who are looking for an infusion of Norse-influenced myth.


Camileon, Shykia Bell - I am not happy when I find it impossible to say much that is positive about a book, but alas, writing about this book is not a happy experience, any more than reading it was. Hackneyed and poorly written, with a far-too-predictable storyline, I'm afraid I can;t recommend this to anyone for any reason.

2009: Short SFF - Collections andAnthologies

The as-yet unrecorded short speculative fiction read in 2009:


Report to the Men’s Club, Carol Emshwiller - a collection of Emshweller's short fiction, many of the stories with distinctly feminist overtones, which greatly pleased me. My introduction to Emshweller.


A Mosque among the Stars, Ahmed A. Khan & Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmed (eds.) - I was very pleased to see this anthology; as Constant Reader is surely aware, I have a strong interest in seeing the experiences of all sorts of people represented in speculative fantasy, and there has been a definite scarcity of stories about Muslim people - and particularly positive stories about Muslims.


Gratia Placenti, Jason Sizemore & Gill Ainsworth (eds.) - sometimes I like me a little dab of horror in my speculative fiction diet, and I've found the short story collections from Apex Publications do very well at feeding my kink. This volume was no exception.


Trampoline, Kelly Link (ed.) - a solid fantasy anthology, notable in my opinion for its inclusion of Vandana Singh's "The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet."