Liz Williams (1) (1965–)

This was a very interesting read. Alivet Dee, the main character is living in a world where humans are oppressed by interdimensional aliens. She is given the opportunity to defeat them with the help of a person from a different world, Ari Ghairen. There is a lot of intrigue, and she isn't sure if she can trust him, but she is thrust into perilous circumstances that force her into close proximity with him. We soon learn that her distrust of Ghairen is unearned, and the result of living in a harsh world. She also discovers that the interdimensional aliens, masquerading as angels, have taken people from earth through portal to other worlds that are based on the four humors. The magic system is very interesting and seems to be based on Jewish mysticism and Catholicism without being overtly religious. This is story of good and evil is very well thought out and the worldbuilding and atmosphere are phenomenal.… (más)

Finally got to this one after obtaining and finishing the previous instalments. I'd previously bounced off book 2, because I never had book 1, and my earlier experience had strongly indicated the need to read the series in order. The sisters go on a family holiday in Cornwall, and the Otherworld follows them. Another book to savour rather than gallop through. Very nicely written. My overall impression of the series:

• It's very slow paced. Each book is set over a week or two, with time advancing between books.
• You do need to read the books in order.
• It's somewhat confusing between the sisters: Bee and Luna are easy to distinguish, but I tended to confuse Stella and Serena. Both are more-or-less London based, and both names begin with 'S'.
• There's still no real sense of a story arc. The otherworldly characters are a mix of nice and nasty, sometimes one or the other, sometimes both at once.
• The series overall seems rather in media res, things happen to one or the other sister, but there seems no obvious reason why these things are happening. We do get a sense that it's connected to Elizabeth I, who gave the Behenian jewels to the Fallow family.

I like these very much, but I think many people will find them hard to get into as there is no obvious meta-plot, the story is slow and meandering, and the cast of characters is large, and the sisters seem to gain new allies with each book. Recommended.… (más)

Interesting. A slow-burning rural fantasy (as opposed to an urban fantasy) centring on four half-sisters, their various lovers (ghostly and alive), their dead grandfather and their missing mother.

Set in rural Somerset (the mystical Avalon), all four sisters meet for the first time in several years at the family home, Mooncote Manor. Strange things happen as a comet approaches, and they find out what happened to their mother and bring her home.

I found it quite a slow read - not a story to canter through, more something to read a bit at a time. It was also more or less real time. The format took a bit of getting used to: each chapter was from the PoV of a different sister which made for some disconnects - leaving one sister on a metaphorical cliff edge and jumping to another.

Recommended.… (más)