Not long after the events of the series conclude, the world is anything but harmonious for Aang and his friends. Zuko is torn by having to have members of his family locked up, Aang learned the Air Nation has a fandom. And the first efforts at bringing about unity among the world is precarious.

I loved the Avatar series, and watching the totality of Korra spurred me to seek out the continuing Avatar stories. They remain as well-developed as the show and help bridge the story between the two animated series.

The Avatar story continues, with Aang discovering a once sacred grove for Airbenders is now a mining site and Toph crosses paths with her father once again. A clash between tradition and innovation, with pro-environmental and anti-capitalist sentiment, Aang needs to figure out how to move forward without losing all connection to the past.

The sisters have what seems to be a break from the war in Otherwworld and the thread of Shadow Wing, but that does not mean time to rest. Delilah investigates when their cousin Daniel winds up with a sword he does not recall stealing, and makes their break anything but. In addition to dealing with a sword with history and a personality, Delilah learns more of her family history and both Shade and Camille hit points of transformation.

I've been following this city since the first book came out, and love that there is a good mix of both plot and romance. I'm tired of books like this having little plot advancement, and even less which seems to happen outside of a proverbial bed.

Jennie Ketcham went from a kid in a dysfunctional family, to a teen seeking attention wherever she could get it, to pothead college student, to adult model and film star, to reality show participant for sex addition. Her story is real, cautionary, lacking in sordid details on set (if that's what you want, go look at Ashley Blue's book), isn't anti-porn but does not encourage some of the excessive behavior found in the business. Worth reading, especially if you think the life of a porn star is nothing but fast cars, coke, and non-stop sex.

Butler's last complete novel follows a young-looking girl who wakes with amnesia after the community around her is burned and many people killed. As she comes to, she repairs her own wounds, finds a friend, seems to be some kind of vampire unknown to folklore, and starts to find answers. Along the way, she does not find her memory, but she finds family and friends and a sense of purpose.

For me, Octavia Butler never fails to spin a compelling story, and Fledgling is no exception.

Galenorn continues to write a series worth following. We're back to vampire Menolly, and the stakes keep rising for the three sisters. War is upon them and there are greater losses to be faced.

I've followed this series from the first book and even when I turned my back to most series fiction, I have kept with the D'Artigo sisters. The continuously changing point of view with the different books means different perspectives on a continually unfolding story. I find each sister fascinating and their respective growing through the tales keep me coming back for more.

On what is an otherwise normal day in March 1998, all technology fails. In Montana, a plane flown by a former military man, carrying a family to their ranch, falls from the sky. In Oregon, larger planes falls from the sky and crash into major cities. In the coming days people would do whatever they could to survive. The family who survives the plane crash turn into a wandering band of mercenaries, and one woman in Oregon takes her coven and some survivors and provides safety on her family's land. While their lives manage to come to a place where they can all survive and potentially thrive, not all people are thinking in altruistic ways. Portland, OR has been taken over by a former academic specializing in Norman history and does his best to recreate that.

A story that will suck you in hard and make you wish for hours uninterrupted just to find out how these real and engaging people will manage to survive each day. No more electricity, no more mass transit, no more GUNPOWDER. Pre-industrial life comes roaring back, how would you handle it?

In a not too distant future, Los Angeles is ruled by food. One restaurant owner with no scruples and amazing food, and one hyper-locavore and hypocritical vegan (for the moment), Jiro is making the best sushi around in a tiny no-name strip mall place. Both restauranteurs fight it out to have JIro working in one of their businesses, and with potentially bloody results.

Delicious food and knife skills of the first order. What else could you expect from Bourdain?

On the eve of her arranged marriage, a young woman named Red Knot is clubbed to death by an unknown assailant. Many eyes point to High Fox, the (young) man she planned to run away with. Sun Conch, who loves High Fox, goes off in search of the Panther, a reclusive man rumored to be a witch, to help solve the mystery of who killed the granddaughter of the community's leader and why.

Continued skillful storytelling and very real tales.

If you were ever a rivethead, odds are good that at some point you were a fan of some project relating to Ministry. Chris Connelly played a notable role in both Ministry and several side projects. Here he tells the story of how a scrawny boy from Scotland found his way to Chicago and into the madness of late 80s industrial. No stone is left unturned as he chronicles the substances he put into his body and the exploits he got up to while in the studio and touring. If it seems like a big haze that is probably because it is how he felt at the time too. Enjoy a trip down memory lane, if only in a vicarious way.

I do confess to a certain reluctance to read books which get huge. Most often because I don't think they measure up to the hype. The Hunger Games is not a book to fall into the category. A mix of apocalypse, dystopia, and reality shows taken to their logical conclusion, The Hunger Games is also well-written with engaging characters and more than enough action to keep you up much later than you ever intend. And my biggest compliment: I want to read Catching Fire. As soon as possible.

Another great collection of short graphic stories. The Saga of Rex fascinates me and I want more. The real reason why I borrowed these volumes was to check out a Delilah Dirk story, and I loved it. Enjoy!

A charming collection of short graphic stories with a range of themes. Well worth checking out.

Just a little story of a girl getting born. To hominid parents of warring species. During an unending war spanning a galaxy. With interplanetary travel, magic, and rocketships which grow in forests.
To put it simply, Brian Vaughan knows how to put together a story and I can't wait to continue this well-named saga.

As the author preface to the book states, the big war may have been averted but there will still be small battles to wage.

Consider what may happen when a landen (non-magic wielder) of the Realms, in the course of research for his next book, performs the ritual and comes out as Blood, a magic user and the guardians and caretakers of the Realms. But imagine if he grew up in the portion of the shadow realm (Kaeleer) named for the realm of light (Terreille) still reeling from the millennia of corruption? Among a territory where the Blood do not observe the honor of Protocol, sneer at him, and seeds of resentment grow. Where he decides to take out his anger on the most powerful and influential members of all the Blood for the perceived slights. And does not count on the bonds of family, or knowing the full truth of the people he hopes to ensnare, or what the price may be for playing out his cruel games.

I have not read Tangled Webs since it first came out and decided to revisit the later stories. And spent almost every page wanting to scream at Jervis for being so short-sighted ad not even asking a basic question like how one of his hired hands might be connected to his "prey." The book also delivers more views into the personalities of the characters, and I loved seeing more of Tersa.

What do you do when all the men and males on earth, except for you and the helper monkey you have been training, die at once without explanation? If you're Yorick Brown, you start looking for our family, do whatever you can to conceal your being male, and do what you can just to stay alive.

Sojourner/Scotch is your typical teen in Toronto: on the dance team, fighting with one of her best friends, just broke up with her boyfriend... and has some weird blotches growing on her skin. In between living her life, one night the world explodes in weirdness, dubbed The Chaos. While dealing with her missing brother, those spots turn in to more than anyone could ever want. In the meantime she has to find her way through the streets, fend off a weird black monster and an ancient Russian lady in a walking house, and hope that weird volcano now in the middle of Lake Ontario does not take her life.

Hopkinson's first foray into young adult fiction is a keeper. A unique story and worthy addition to the author's corpus.

After the massive success of the Black Jewels trilogy, Anne Bishop continued to tell stories to fill in more of the in between times and after. Dreams Made Flesh includes a story from the start of the Blood, how Lucivar and Marian got together (and a little more insight into Luthvian), Zuulamann demonstrates what Saetan can be capable of, and Kaeleer's Heart follows the events of Queen of the Darkness and what life is like after Witch has done her work and starts to live a "regular" life.

The original trilogy created a new level of dark fantasy when it came out, and the imagination which fuels it is not one to miss.

Sunny and her family moved back to Nigeria a few years before the events of the book take place. One day Sunny discovers she is different. A Leopard Person, capable of doing magic. She forms a small coven around her, starts to learn (and is now in a society where knowledge is more valuable than money), and may have to deal with a serial killer going after young children in her area.
Nnedi has an incredible imagination and it almost reads like something from the Harry Potter universe, only using a West African modality instead of Hogwart's European magical model.

An exceptional recount of one woman's journey into becoming a full time witch and caring for the physical and spiritual needs of her community (and not just the people!). An inspiring book by a remarkable woman.

The second part of the Prydain chronicles, in which Taran sets out on a quest to find the cauldron. Along the way he faces ego, two-timing, and three unusual women. And he learned that there are few absolutes when it comes to good and evil and perhaps is not so ready to grow up.

I avoided this series for 15 years because I was working in a bookstore and got tired of seeing and hearing about the books very fast. The only reason I decided to start reading it because I am a Lego video games addict and bought the first Lego Harry Potter. But it's a difficult game to play when you do not know the story at all. Which led to a trip to the library and a borrow.
I was not expecting the story to be so well-written! Now I cannot wait to go further in the story.

An inspiring book by an inspiring woman. Koofi grew up in a political family but also as a female in a country where they are treated as lower than dirt. But she was able to get an education, not find herself in an arranged marriage but instead partnered for love, and eventually become one of the first female politicians in Afghanistan. All this while growing up with the Soviet occupation, mujahideen, Taliban takover, wars, and threats on her life. A hera for our time.

A find from my local used bookshop. A lovely retelling of the myth of Idunn losing her apples and the Gods fading for it. As always, Loki causes the trouble and ends up helping to fix it. Worth finding!

Ever wonder how to become a young, outstanding chef? Work your butt off, do everything you can to cook, and work your butt off some more. Samuelsson started life in Ethiopia, and after his mother passed away, he and his sister were adopted by a Swedish family. Reading of his youth in Goteborg (the city from where my mother and her family hail and where I have spent much time) was also nostalgia for me. It felt like I was reading a story similar to something of my own upbringing.
Samuelsson learned to cook in the kitchen of his mormor (maternal grandmother) and found a passion for it. Eventually he went to trade to school to become a chef, and his drive pushed him further. To restaurants through Europe, on cruise ships, and eventually in New York City at Aquavit. He would take the restaurant to new levels, through his skill and incredible taste buds. His star will rise, he'll find his way back to his birth family's home, and revive a Harlem tradition.

What impressed me most about the book is what it lacks compared to other restaurant memoirs: Samuelsson does not overindulge in drink or illicit substances.

An engaging read and I could not finish it fast enough.

I am a big fan of both Avatar: TLA and Legend of Korra. In my impatience for the new books of Korra to come out, I decided to check to see if there were any print stories to continue either series. This is how I found out about the Promise. A year after the Fire Nation's attempt at world domination has been thwarted, bringing about peace and unity is not as easy as it may seem. Zuko learns that it's not all that easy to extract Fire Nation citizens from their newer home areas. And Aang is learning how to balance his life with being the Avatar.

Oh, and he and Katara are now fully an item.

I can't wait to get a hold of the rest of the books and perhaps discover how Republic City came to be.

An incredible story. Onyesonwu, whose name translates to the book title, is a mixed-race woman and a child of rape. She also has magical powers which awaken as she grows, and as it want to happen, has some business to attend to. Mostly in the form of dealing with her biological father who is power-hungry and bent on destruction. Along the way Onye learns more of the past of her people and is able to start reversing some barbaric practices still occurring. And what sounds like a horrible destiny isn't always what it seems.

This book deserved the World Fantasy Award. Do yourself a favor and read it.

After being stuck in a pond as a fish for almost a decade, changeling Toby Daye makes her way back to the dry land world. And promptly finds herself in a world of problems when one of her allies is killed. And places a geas on Toby to find her killer... or die. Toby finds her way back into her old lives, both in her old work as a private investigator and with her old mentor. She turns up both people who hate her and things which should not exist.

I love finding fantasy novels which take a new twist on an old plot. That is a mild description for Rosemary and Rue. I'm bending my rule about not picking up new series to follow this one.

No matter what genre or age group, if Elizabeth Hand writes something, I will read it. Radiant Days is one of my favorites of her works now.
Merle is a teenage, an art student in DC who gets involved with an older woman. In short order she cuts classes, spends all her money, and gets kicked out of school. (Considering how often Hand's protagonists flunk out I have to wonder about her own education.) Things seem to keep getting worse, and eventually Merle's shared house becomes a dump with no utilities. And not long after she loses everything else which matters to her. That's when things get interesting...
On the other side, a young Arthur Rimbaud is dealing with his tyrannical mother then getting arrested while sneaking into Paris. France is at war with Prussia at this time, so life is rough and people aren't willing to trust strangers. Arthur does everything he can to keep from going home and continues to compose the poetry for which he will become immortal. One night he falls into a dream... and the power of art breaks down time.

I don't want to share too much of the plot, because you need to read it! Both learn how to make art and make magic, and make more of their lives than they can ever have imagined.

The portrayal of two young people, both of whom are gay/queer and not having that be the focal point of the story, needs to happen much more often in fiction. Also keep your eyes open for a possible legend of a secondary character.

Atwater-Rhodes continues building her Den of Shadows world, looking again to SingleEarth and the mercenary guilds to find tales of new beginnings. Sarik is running from her past, working for SingleEarth as a mediator and has found love with a runaway vampire. Alysia is a human (or is she? I wondered for a moment), a hacker, who moved from working for one of the merc guilds to providing her services to SingleEarth. Someone is out for her life, and even manages to infiltrate the hidden compound where both women are staying. Both women need to figure out who is out for life and how to face up to what their lives were like before.

Like one of the other reviewers, I was also a little confused as to who was who and what was happening at the start. But as the story unfolded it became more clear just what was happening. And even the legendary races cannot escape the march of the modern world.