Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: March 2010

Bone and Jewel Creatures: A lovely trifle

Bone and Jewel Creatures by Elizabeth Bear

Elizabeth Bear appeared on the scene in 2004 as if she were Athena, sprung fully formed from Zeus’s forehead to be a major player in the science fiction and fantasy genres. Her first project was the science fiction thriller Jenny Casey space opera series beginning with Hammered, but in short order books by Bear began appearing at least every six months. In 2005, she won the John W. Campbell award for Best New Author; in 2008 the Hugo for Best Short Story (“Tideline”);

World Wide Wednesday: Black Prisms & White Cats

Welcome y’all to a new (and, we hope, regular) feature at Fantasy Literature! I’ll be scanning the blogosphere on a weekly basis and providing you with some handy links to the very best of the articles, interviews, and miscellaneous goings-on provided by FanLit’s friends. I’m testing this out in a handy Top 10 format. If you’d like to see any changes to this feature, or you have suggestions for ways to make it better, or if you think I missed something important, please leave a comment!

Without further ado…

1) (A new cover for) The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

This one can be found over on A Dribble of Ink run by Aidan Moher.

March 10th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest) | World Wide Wednesday | 9 comments |

Unperfect Souls: Creative characters, setting, and plot

Unperfect Souls by Mark Del Franco

Unperfect Souls by Mark Del Franco stars Connor Grey, a druid who has lost his powers but still helps investigate the magical goings-on in the Boston neighborhood known as the Weird. In this fourth book of the Connor Grey series, the Dead who had visited earth in Unfallen Dead (book 3) are now stranded on earth. The Weird has become tainted — heightening the aggressive tendencies of its living and dead inhabitants — and Connor has attracted the attention of both faerie courts who are rushing to control him,

March 10th, 2010. Stephen B. Frank´s rating: 4 | Mark Del_Franco | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Vintage Soul: First of what should be a good series

Vintage Soul by David Niall Wilson

Vintage Soul by David Niall Wilson is a well-written short novel billed as the first in The DeChance Chronicles. Wilson is the winner of the Bram Stoker award for his horror stories, and it’s clear from the start that Vintage Soul was written by a master wordsmith. I particularly enjoyed reading the indulgent setting of the opening party scene in which a powerful vampire is kidnapped right in front of her guests. The vampires call upon mage and investigator DeChance,

March 10th, 2010. Stephen B. Frank´s rating: 3.5 | David Niall Wilson | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

The Black Raven: Kerr writes the past so beautifully

The Black Raven by Katharine Kerr

The Black Raven is the second book in the Dragon Mage sequence of Deverry from Katharine Kerr. Once again, we spend the majority of the book in the past, exploring Lillorigga’s burgeoning dweomer power and her relationship to the various souls she is destined to encounter again when she becomes Niffa in the future. At the moment, it is fairly confusing trying to keep straight who is who in both the past and the current incarnations.

March 10th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 4 | Katharine Kerr | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Master of Whitestorm: An excellent stand-alone

The Master of Whitestorm by Janny Wurts

As The Master of Whitestorm starts off, Haldeth, a blacksmith turned galley slave, gets involved in an escape attempt by his bench mate, a mysterious and silent man who quickly proves to have surprising skills and hidden depths. After the two companions escape, they strike out together, and the mysterious man, whose name turns out to be Korendir, takes on a number of mercenary missions. It quickly becomes clear that Korendir is, to put it lightly, very focused on gathering enough money to build an impregnable fortress on the cliffs of Whitestorm…

Living With The Writer: Michaela Deas

It occurs to me that there are very many interviews with fantasy authors to be found on the Internet – this very site conducts many of them, and I’ve enjoyed every one! However, few people bother to talk to the long-suffering partners behind those who create the books we know and love. It is fun for us to dip into the fantasy worlds created by these authors — but how must it feel to the people who dwell in them full-time? With this in mind, I decided to create a feature called Living With The Writer, where we talk to those significant others.

March 9th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest) | Stephen Deas | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 8 comments |

The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock in fantasy land

The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes edited by John Joseph Adams

In this collection of stories, compiled by John Joseph Adams, a variety of authors invent cases that Sherlock Holmes might encounter if our world were just a bit different. These are cases in which the “improbable” occurs. Most of the stories involve some sort of fantastical situation in which Holmes is required to go outside of his normal logic-based abilities and enter the realm of fantasy. The array of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi authors is quite extensive. Laurie King,

The Chick and the Dead: Chick lit with a paranormal twist

The Chick and the Dead by Casey Daniels

Pepper Martin thought her newly acquired ability to see ghosts was a one-shot deal. That once Gus Scarpetti moved on to the great hereafter, she could go back to her normal life where only the living talked to her. She was wrong. It seems Gus has been talking her up in the afterlife, and sends Didi Bowman her way.

Didi died in the 1950s and was the sister of Merilee Bowman, Cleveland native and bestselling author of the Civil War novel So Far the Dawn.

March 9th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2.5 | Casey Daniels | SFF Reviews | no comments |

20 Heroes: Andreas val Dhari

This the fifth installment in our Heroes series, written by our own Robert Rhodes. The art is courtesy of Ida Mary Walker Larsen.

He is free.

He simply stands as the wide gates of the mining barracks thud shut and a wave of cold air hits his nape. He lingers under the gatehouse arch, his boots uneasy on the icy muck, and lifts his eyes. Before the jagged white mountains, under the leaden sky, it remains.

The Spire.

He wishes,

March 8th, 2010. Rob Rhodes | 20 Heroes | 6 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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