Finished 5 in August.
1. Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman was the third novel I’ve read by Buehlman & the one I’ve liked the least. An epic fantasy about a thief ( who must pay off his debt to the Guild for his thieving education) who joins forces with a female knight on a quest to rescue a queen. Unlike the previous Buehlman novels, this story just kind of dragged on for me. Maybe it was the fantasy plot line. Found the ending interesting enough that I will probably give the second book in the series a try. 3.5 / 5
2. Return to the Isle of the Dead by Donald Tyson was the second collection of stories about the life of Abdul Alhazred, the mad Arab made famous by HP Lovecraft. An OK collection; no standouts, either good or bad. 3 / 5
3. The Lake of the Dead by Andre Bjerke, originally published in 1942, was advertised as Norway’s greatest crime / suspense novel. An old cabin in the woods by a cursed lake, were anyone who stays in the cabin will eventually drown themselves ( or be drowned by something) in the lake. There are some anachronisms, probably due to the translation, and some out dated ideas (mainly due to the portrayal of women 80 years ago), but all in all I found Lake to be an enjoyable read. It was a fast paced story with enough gothic hooks (old murders, a curse, new murders, a ghost?) and some humor to make it interesting. A fun read if you don’t go into it with high expectations. 4 / 5
4. Lovecraft’s Legacy was a tribute anthology edited by Robert Weinberg & Martin Greenberg for the centennial anniversary of Lovecraft’s birthday. The stories tended to run OK to fair. My favorites were ‘Will’ by Graham Masterton (how did Shakespeare come to write all those classic stories?) & the first publication of F. Paul Wilson’s classic story, ‘The Barrens’. 3 / 5
5. Dust Devils by Jonathan Janz had a premise with so much potential, but was poorly executed. A group of vampires posing as actors traveling from town to town in the old west. Unfortunately the story dragged on with too many repetitive scenes. IMO, would have worked better at a novella length. Even at a short novel length (240 pages), the story felt padded. 2 / 5
B
1. Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman was the third novel I’ve read by Buehlman & the one I’ve liked the least. An epic fantasy about a thief ( who must pay off his debt to the Guild for his thieving education) who joins forces with a female knight on a quest to rescue a queen. Unlike the previous Buehlman novels, this story just kind of dragged on for me. Maybe it was the fantasy plot line. Found the ending interesting enough that I will probably give the second book in the series a try. 3.5 / 5
2. Return to the Isle of the Dead by Donald Tyson was the second collection of stories about the life of Abdul Alhazred, the mad Arab made famous by HP Lovecraft. An OK collection; no standouts, either good or bad. 3 / 5
3. The Lake of the Dead by Andre Bjerke, originally published in 1942, was advertised as Norway’s greatest crime / suspense novel. An old cabin in the woods by a cursed lake, were anyone who stays in the cabin will eventually drown themselves ( or be drowned by something) in the lake. There are some anachronisms, probably due to the translation, and some out dated ideas (mainly due to the portrayal of women 80 years ago), but all in all I found Lake to be an enjoyable read. It was a fast paced story with enough gothic hooks (old murders, a curse, new murders, a ghost?) and some humor to make it interesting. A fun read if you don’t go into it with high expectations. 4 / 5
4. Lovecraft’s Legacy was a tribute anthology edited by Robert Weinberg & Martin Greenberg for the centennial anniversary of Lovecraft’s birthday. The stories tended to run OK to fair. My favorites were ‘Will’ by Graham Masterton (how did Shakespeare come to write all those classic stories?) & the first publication of F. Paul Wilson’s classic story, ‘The Barrens’. 3 / 5
5. Dust Devils by Jonathan Janz had a premise with so much potential, but was poorly executed. A group of vampires posing as actors traveling from town to town in the old west. Unfortunately the story dragged on with too many repetitive scenes. IMO, would have worked better at a novella length. Even at a short novel length (240 pages), the story felt padded. 2 / 5
B
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