Larry Gonick, The Cartoon History of the Modern World part 1
Collins (2006) ISBN: 0-06-076004-4
Score: 3

This is a direct sequel to The Cartoon History of the Universe III (and contains several cross-references to that volume), with more history, religion, politics, and science. One thing bothered me a little: the author blatantly doesn't like GWB. That in itself is fine (neither do I, and for many of the same reasons), and I don't have any problem with him mentioning previous times these policies were tried and failed, but Bush himself is outside the scope of the book, and so the (unlabeled) references and cameos were rather jarring. And they will likely confuse readers 30 years from now (yes, I think this series will still be useful and popular then).

Next Book: Patricia Briggs, Raven's Strike

Joshua Palmatier, The Cracked Throne
Daw (2006) ISBN: 0-7564-0403-7
Score: 1

Second book about Varis (the series doesn't seem to have a name), in which she has to defend the city against evil invaders. It's nice that she stays true to her ignoble roots, but the other characters were a bit too simplistic for my tastes. And I didn't like how every bit of information she picks up turns out to be critically important. I'll probably read the next book to see how the ending of this one affects the structure of the government.

Next Book: Michelle Sagara, Cast in Shadow

Alan Campbell, Scar Night
Bantam (2006) ISBN: 978-0-553-38416-1
Score: 0

Start of the dark high fantasy series The Deepgate Codex. The main character is a teenaged angel (the last of his race) who acts half his age.

Next Book: Christopher Moore, You Suck: a Love Story

Carol Hughes, Dirty Magic
Random House (2006) ISBN: 0-375-83187-8
Score: 2

A juvenile fantasy of the type where faeries kidnap human children for their wars, except instead of ethereally beautiful elves this time its grubby soldiers fighting a trench war against unmanned tanks. It had several rather predictable twists plus a couple that I didn't expect. The biggest flaw I saw was the pacing: the chapter breaks seemed to be completely random, and the first page is in media res but without any action and very little information and it doesn't really fit anyplace in the story.

Next Book: Kelley Armstrong, Haunted

Joshua Palmatier, The Skewed Throne
Daw (2006) ISBN: 0-7564-0331-6
Score: 2

Start of a high fantasy series about a young woman who survives by stealing food in the slums of a city ruled by a highly magical but insane woman. She attracts the attention of some people outside the slums, which makes her life very interesting, but not much better (worry about her next meal is replaced by lots of other worries). The magic system is quite original (and almost exclusively informative rather than active), and I like the fact that there aren't any hints (is this book at least) that the heroine is descended from anyone special (other than her having a rare magical talent).

Next Book: Tim Eldred, Grease Monkey

Maria V. Snyder, Magic Study
Luna (2006) ISBN: 0-373-80249-8
Score: -1

Second novel of the Study high fantasy series, in which the heroine discovers her magic is not only unique but more powerful than anyone elses. I still like the political situation, but too much about the characters and the magic system is obviously contrived to fit the plot the author wants. And the author (and/or copyeditor) continues to insist on spelling "bo" with a 'w'.

Next Book: Katharine McMahon, The Alchemist's Daughter

Shaenon K. Garrity, Narbonic
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic/toc.php
(three collections have been published, three more to be published)
Score: 3

This is a daily webcomic that ran from July 31, 2000 to December 31, 2006; and now that it's over, the author is going to start reposting it with annotations. Set here and now (mad science works but normal people are really good at not noticing), this is the story of characters who are evil, but in a nice way. It's really impressive to see a story updated six times a week without losing quality or focus. The Sunday updates are a collection of random stuff, including a few canon strips (the very first and very last Sundays) and a couple good stories: "The Astonishing Excursions of Helen Narbon & Co." is a serialized graphic novel about the Victorian versions of the cast in space, and "A Brief Moment of Culture" is a prose story by Jeffrey Wells (the first half is illustrated by Garrity and serialized, but then she ran out of time and just put the second half up in a big block); both are worth reading, and get mentioned a few times in the canon strips. The "Dave in Slumberland" pages may technically be canon (a couple times we see canon Dave wake up from them), but they don't add much. There's also a story hidden in the filenames of the later strips, but I haven't figured out yet where it starts.

Next Book: Kit Whitfield, Benighted

Kelly Link, "The Wizards of Perfil"
Firebird (2006) ISBN: 0-14-240549-3
Score: 0.5

A fairly predictable story about the nature and usefulness of wizards.

Next Book: Dianna Wynne Jones, The Tough Guide to Fantasyland (revised edition)

Pamela Dean, "Cousins"
Firebird (2006) ISBN: 0-14-240549-3
Score: 1

A short story about a supporting character from the Liavek novel she was writing. It would've had a higher score if it ended a couple hours later (I get really peeved when authors end the story right before major decisions are made). I picked up this anthology when I saw Emma Bull's name on the cover, and the editor's note on that story mentioned she co-edited Liavek and then pointed to this story.

Jim Butcher, Cursor's Fury
Ace (2006) ISBN: 0-441-01434-8
Score: 1

Third book of the Codex Alera high fantasy series, in which we learn the full circumstances of Tavi's birth (plus a bunch of bigger and badder monsters and battles thrown in just to show how good the good guys are).