Perelandra (1943) is the second volume of C.S. Lewis’s SPACE TRILOGY and I liked it even better than Out of the Silent Planet, its predecessor. Cambridge professor Dr. Elwin Ransom is back on Earth and has told his friend Lewis about the adventures he had on the planet Mars and the supernatural beings he met there. When Ransom explains that there’s an epic battle between good and evil, that the planet Venus is about to play an important part,
September 12th, 2012. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | C.S. Lewis | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford
Full disclosure: I didn’t finish this book. I didn’t even get that far in. But I’m a firm believer that life’s too short to read bad books. A Touch Mortal hit one of my biggest peeves about YA paranormal romance, and it hit it really quickly.
It starts out with what could be an interesting premise: teenage Eden is somehow slipping from the minds of everyone around her, and doesn’t know why her friends and family are ignoring her. She’s depressed about this and contemplating suicide when she meets two young men on the beach.
September 12th, 2012. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 0.1 | Leah Clifford | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Shift by Hugh Howey
Editor’s Note: Shift is an omnibus containing three separate stories that together are considered the second book in Hugh Howey’s SILO series after Wool (which originally had 5 parts): “First Shift,” “Second Shift,” and “Third Shift.” When Ruth reviewed Shift, “Third Shift” had not yet been published. Kat mentions “Third Shift” in her review below.
Shift is the second book in the SILO series by Hugh Howey,
September 11th, 2012. Ruth Arnell and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Hugh Howey | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
“I’d get what I needed and take what I wanted and I’d remember those who helped me and step on the rest. For this, I knew, was the law by which our family lived, and I was a true son of my father.”
When Corwin wakes up in a private hospital after driving his car over a cliff, he has no idea who he is. When he realizes that he has healed too fast and that he’s being drugged so he’ll stay unconscious,
September 11th, 2012. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Roger Zelazny | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Clarkesworld Magazine is a monthly electronic publication with a strong focus on science fiction, though it also publishes fantasy. In addition, it has an unusual emphasis on nonfiction. The September issue, No. 72, contains three stories, all of which are science fiction, two nonfiction articles, and an interview.
“The Found Girl,” by David Klecha and Tobias S. Buckell, opens this issue. It is about those left behind when the mass of humankind upload themselves into a digital, immortal existence. Unfortunately, many of those are children,
September 10th, 2012. Terry Weyna | Nick Mamatas, Tobias Buckell | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
In The Stand, Stephen King basically wrote the book on contemporary post-apocalyptic settings. However, one of the few things that 1000+ page novel missed was zombies. King corrects that omission in Cell, a novel in which cell phones turn users into zombies.
Unlike in The Stand, King wastes no time assembling his heroes. Clayton Riddell, who is, of course, from Maine, writes graphic novels. Clay barely has a moment to enjoy his first big break in publishing before the world is ending after the “pulse.” Amidst the ruin,
September 10th, 2012. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Stephen King | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
It’s six weeks past the apocalypse, where armies of angels have wrought destruction upon the major cities of the earth. Penryn has been hiding in a condo in the suburbs of San Francisco with her paranoid schizophrenic mother and wheelchair bound little sister. When their food runs out, she knows they are going to have to try and escape to the hills where hopefully they can find more supplies. But on their way, they get stopped by a band of dueling angels, one of whom gets his wings cut off.
September 10th, 2012. Ruth Arnell, Rebecca Fisher and Tadiana Jones | Susan Ee | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
With the recent Sci- Fi Channel miniseries, there is bound to be renewed interest in Ursula Le Guin’s classic first book in her Earthsea series, as there should be. This remains a classic fantasy for good reason. The world within which the characters move is fully developed, having a sense of past, present and future as well as a sense of a larger “there there”, as opposed to some fantasies that feel like a Hollywood stage set, as if nothing exists beyond the narrow social/geographical worlds the characters move through.
September 8th, 2012. Tim Scheidler, Bill Capossere, Kat Hooper, John Hulet and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Ursula K. Le-Guin | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Planetary: All Over the World and Other Stories, Volume 1 by Warren Ellis & John Cassaday
Planetary: All Over the World and Other Stories, Volume 1 by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday is for the reader who has a nostalgia for the space explorer- and Doc Savage-style pulp fiction along with a love of futuristic and science fiction settings. Three main characters make up the mysterious group called Planetary. Elijah Snow is about 100 years old, looks like a fit 40-50 year-old, can lower the temperature of a room by walking into it (hence his name),
September 7th, 2012. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Warren Ellis | Comics | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Dark Companion by Marta Acosta
Jane grew up as an unloved foster child in a rough neighborhood full of gangsters and pimps. Inspired by a friend’s death to excel in school, Jane has earned a scholarship to the exclusive Birch Grove Academy for Girls. She sees this as a ticket out of the violence and exploitation she sees all around her, but instead she finds that there are predators among the rich as well…
Dark Companion by Marta Acosta fits comfortably in with the “dark supernatural secret at a girls’ boarding school” subgenre of novels — though the main secret isn’t technically supernatural,
September 7th, 2012. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Marta Acosta | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…