SFF Author Rachel Caine | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews
Next Author: Kristen Callihan
Previous Author: Meg Cabot
Rachel Caine is a pen name of Roxanne Longstreet Conrad, an American writer of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and horror novels. Conrad also publishes media tie-in novels as Julie Fortune. Rachel Caine has been writing and publishing novels and short stories since 1991. She is a former professional musician who has the distinction of having played with such musical legends as Henry Mancini, Peter Nero and John Williams. Read excerpts at Rachel Caine’s website.
Weather Warden — (2003-2008) Publisher: Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden. Usually, all it takes is a wave of her hand to tame the most violent weather. But now, she’s trying to outrun another kind of storm: accusations of corruption and murder. So, she’s resorting to the very human tactic of running for her life… Her only hope is Lewis, the most powerful warden known. Unfortunately, he’s stolen not one but three bottles of Djinn-making him the most wanted man on earth. Still, she’s racing hard to find him-before the bad weather closes in fast…
Ill Wind: Not brain food, just a guilty pleasure
Ill Wind is the first book in Rachel Caine's urban fantasy series Weather Warden. The book stands well on its own and doesn't have any of those nasty cliffhangers so often found in fantasy series, but it still keeps you interested in what happens in the next book.
Ill Wind starts in the middle of the action and I was impressed with the first chapter because Caine seamlessly juxtaposes the present with flashbacks and keeps readers on the edge of their seats. This world's magic system is also original and, thankfully, Caine manages to narrate an exciting tale to accompany it.
Ill Wind has a lot of elements that identify it as an urban fantasy but without overdoing it. There's romance in the book (albeit a predictable one) but unlike, say, Read More
June 11th, 2009. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | Rachel Caine | SFF Reviews | no comments
The Morganville Vampires — (2006-2016) Young adult. Omnibus editions available. The Morganville Vampires has been optioned for film. Publisher: Welcome to Morganville, Texas. Just don’t stay out after dark. College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school’s social scene: somewhere less than zero. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don’t show many signs of life. But they’ll have Claire’s back when the town’s deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.
The Morganville Vampires: The omnibus is a worthy purchase
The Morganville Vampires (Glass Houses & The Dead Girl’s Dance) by Rachel Caine
Glass Houses Read More
December 30th, 2009. Justin Blazier (RETIRED)´s rating: 3.5 | Rachel Caine | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments
The Revivalist — (2011-2012) Publisher: Bryn Davis was killed on the job after discovering her bosses were selling a drug designed to resurrect the dead. Now, revived by that same drug, she becomes an undead soldier in a corporate war to take down the very pharmaceutical company responsible for her new condition…
Working Stiff: Always riveting
Rachel Caine’s Working Stiff is technically a zombie novel, but it’s not your typical zombie novel. It’s not your typical urban fantasy, either. In fact, it might be more properly termed urban soft science fiction, as the zombifying agent is a nanotech drug rather than magic. But whatever you call it, it’s an excellent book that has me kicking myself for not having tried Caine’s novels before (I’d only read her short story “Death Warmed Over”).
Bryn Davis is one of the most relatable urban-fantasy heroines I’ve seen. She’s neither Superwoman nor a clinging vine. She’s just a young career woman with an endearing mix of strengths and vulnerabilities, who is forced into a desperate existence and must struggle to survive.
We first meet Bryn as she’s about to begin work at Fairview Mortuary. Working in the funeral business may seem like an o... Read More
August 12th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Rachel Caine | SFF Reviews | no comments
The year is 2025. Alexandria’s Great Library has spr... Read More
December 10th, 2015. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Rachel Caine | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 10 comments
More fantasy novels by Rachel Caine
The Red Letter Days — (2005-2006) Publisher: Jazz Callender is an ex-cop struggling to prove her partner’s innocence after he is sent to prison for murder, and she’s willing to take whatever help comes along… but she’s about to make a bargain with the devil. Approached by a mysterious, attractive stranger with a check and a business offer, she finds herself plunged deep into a world where nothing is as it seems… not James Borden, Attorney At Law, who fascinates her even as she doubts his honesty… not Lucia Garza, her beautiful, brilliant new partner with hidden depths and secrets… not The Cross Society, who seems to be able to know more about the cases she’s being sent to investigate than Jazz does herself. With each new revelation, Jazz and Lucia uncover a world of psychic predictions and unseen forces, and find themselves playing not just for keeps, but for souls… With lives at stake, Jazz finds that every choice she makes is dangerous… even the one to fall in love.
The Outcast Season — (2009-2012) This is a spin-off of the Weather Warden series and will contain at least 4 novels. Publisher: Once she was Cassiel, a Djinn of limitless power. Now, she has been reshaped in human flesh as punishment for defying her master — and living among the Weather Wardens, whose power she must tap into regularly or she will die. And as she copes with the emotions and frailties of her human condition, a malevolent entity threatens her new existence…
Prince of Shadows: A Novel of Romeo and Juliet — (2014) Publisher: A thrilling retelling of the star-crossed tale of Romeo and Juliet, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Morganville Vampires series. In the Houses of Montague and Capulet, there is only one goal: power. The boys are born to fight and die for honor and—if they survive—marry for influence and money, not love. The girls are assets, to be spent wisely. Their wishes are of no import. Their fates are written on the day they are born. Benvolio Montague, cousin to Romeo, knows all this. He expects to die for his cousin, for his house, but a spark of rebellion still lives inside him. At night, he is the Prince of Shadows, the greatest thief in Verona—and he risks all as he steals from House Capulet. In doing so, he sets eyes on convent-bound Rosaline, and a terrible curse begins that will claim the lives of many in Verona… …And will rewrite all their fates, forever.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE STORIES BY RACHEL CAINE.
SFF Author Rachel Caine | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews
Next Author: Kristen Callihan
Previous Author: Meg Cabot
Rachel Caine is a pen name of Roxanne Longstreet Conrad, an American writer of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and horror novels. Conrad also publishes media tie-in novels as Julie Fortune. Rachel Caine has been writing and publishing novels and short stories since 1991. She is a former professional musician who has the distinction of having played with such musical legends as Henry Mancini, Peter Nero and John Williams. Read excerpts at Rachel Caine’s website.
Weather Warden — (2003-2008) Publisher: Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden. Usually, all it takes is a wave of her hand to tame the most violent weather. But now, she’s trying to outrun another kind of storm: accusations of corruption and murder. So, she’s resorting to the very human tactic of running for her life… Her only hope is Lewis, the most powerful warden known. Unfortunately, he’s stolen not one but three bottles of Djinn-making him the most wanted man on earth. Still, she’s racing hard to find him-before the bad weather closes in fast…
Ill Wind: Not brain food, just a guilty pleasure
Ill Wind is the first book in Rachel Caine's urban fantasy series Weather Warden. The book stands well on its own and doesn't have any of those nasty cliffhangers so often found in fantasy series, but it still keeps you interested in what happens in the next book.
Ill Wind starts in the middle of the action and I was impressed with the first chapter because Caine seamlessly juxtaposes the present with flashbacks and keeps readers on the edge of their seats. This world's magic system is also original and, thankfully, Caine manages to narrate an exciting tale to accompany it.
Ill Wind has a lot of elements that identify it as an urban fantasy but without overdoing it. There's romance in the book (albeit a predictable one) but unlike, say, Read More
June 11th, 2009. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | Rachel Caine | SFF Reviews | no comments
The Morganville Vampires — (2006-2016) Young adult. Omnibus editions available. The Morganville Vampires has been optioned for film. Publisher: Welcome to Morganville, Texas. Just don’t stay out after dark. College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school’s social scene: somewhere less than zero. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don’t show many signs of life. But they’ll have Claire’s back when the town’s deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.
The Morganville Vampires: The omnibus is a worthy purchase
The Morganville Vampires (Glass Houses & The Dead Girl’s Dance) by Rachel Caine
Glass Houses Read More
December 30th, 2009. Justin Blazier (RETIRED)´s rating: 3.5 | Rachel Caine | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments
The Revivalist — (2011-2012) Publisher: Bryn Davis was killed on the job after discovering her bosses were selling a drug designed to resurrect the dead. Now, revived by that same drug, she becomes an undead soldier in a corporate war to take down the very pharmaceutical company responsible for her new condition…
Working Stiff: Always riveting
Rachel Caine’s Working Stiff is technically a zombie novel, but it’s not your typical zombie novel. It’s not your ty
pical urban fantasy, either. In fact, it might be more properly termed urban soft science fiction, as the zombifying agent is a nanotech drug rather than magic. But whatever you call it, it’s an excellent book that has me kicking myself for not having tried Caine’s novels before (I’d only read her short story “Death Warmed Over”).
Bryn Davis is one of the most relatable urban-fantasy heroines I’ve seen. She’s neither Superwoman nor a clinging vine. She’s just a young career woman with an endearing mix of strengths and vulnerabilities, who is forced into a desperate existence and must struggle to survive.
We first meet Bryn as she’s about to begin work at Fairview Mortuary. Working in the funeral business may seem like an o... Read More
August 12th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Rachel Caine | SFF Reviews | no comments
The year is 2025. Alexandria’s Great Library has spr... Read More
December 10th, 2015. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Rachel Caine | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 10 comments
More fantasy novels by Rachel Caine
The Red Letter Days — (2005-2006) Publisher: Jazz Callender is an ex-cop struggling to prove her partner’s innocence after he is sent to prison for murder, and she’s willing to take whatever help comes along… but she’s about to make a bargain with the devil. Approached by a mysterious, attractive stranger with a check and a business offer, she finds herself plunged deep into a world where nothing is as it seems… not James Borden, Attorney At Law, who fascinates her even as she doubts his honesty… not Lucia Garza, her beautiful, brilliant new partner with hidden depths and secrets… not The Cross Society, who seems to be able to know more about the cases she’s being sent to investigate than Jazz does herself. With each new revelation, Jazz and Lucia uncover a world of psychic predictions and unseen forces, and find themselves playing not just for keeps, but for souls… With lives at stake, Jazz finds that every choice she makes is dangerous… even the one to fall in love.
The Outcast Season — (2009-2012) This is a spin-off of the Weather Warden series and will contain at least 4 novels. Publisher: Once she was Cassiel, a Djinn of limitless power. Now, she has been reshaped in human flesh as punishment for defying her master — and living among the Weather Wardens, whose power she must tap into regularly or she will die. And as she copes with the emotions and frailties of her human condition, a malevolent entity threatens her new existence…
Prince of Shadows: A Novel of Romeo and Juliet — (2014) Publisher: A thrilling retelling of the star-crossed tale of Romeo and Juliet, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Morganville Vampires series. In the Houses of Montague and Capulet, there is only one goal: power. The boys are born to fight and die for honor and—if they survive—marry for influence and money, not love. The girls are assets, to be spent wisely. Their wishes are of no import. Their fates are written on the day they are born. Benvolio Montague, cousin to Romeo, knows all this. He expects to die for his cousin, for his house, but a spark of rebellion still lives inside him. At night, he is the Prince of Shadows, the greatest thief in Verona—and he risks all as he steals from House Capulet. In doing so, he sets eyes on convent-bound Rosaline, and a terrible curse begins that will claim the lives of many in Verona… …And will rewrite all their fates, forever.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE STORIES BY RACHEL CAINE.