Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: October 2012

WWWednesday: Halloween

Halloween is my least favorite holiday. I’m not a big fan of all the creepy and spooky stuff. And you know why I don’t need Halloween? Because I have science!

Meet Promachoteuthis sulcus, a bizarre creature straight out of your nightmares.
As you can see, this thing looks like it has freakishly human looking teeth. It’s a species of promachoteuthid squid and only one specimen has been found to date. It was captured in the Southern Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 2,000m in 2007.

Just imagine what else is lurking in our oceans!

October 31st, 2012. Ruth Arnell | World Wide Wednesday | 3 comments |

When Will You Rise: Stories to End the World

When Will You Rise: Stories to End the World by Mira Grant

A novella set in the universe of the NEWSFLESH TRILOGY is the first, and the longest, of the two stories that make up Mira Grant’s When Will You Rise: Stories to End the World. Anyone who hasn’t read the NEWFLESH TRILOGY is likely to be a touch lost in “Countdown,” but not entirely: it is the story of the beginning of a plague, one inadvertently engineered by scientists and activists intending to do good,

Steven chats with Annie Wilder

I recently talked with Annie Wilder, author of three books dealing with true life paranormal experiences. Her first book, House of Spirits and Whispers, is about her experience living in a haunted house and working with paranormal investigators. Her second book, Spirits Out of Time, recounted her own extended family’s experiences with the supernatural. I enjoyed her latest book, Trucker Ghost Stories: And Other True Tales of Haunted Highways, Weird Encounters, and Legends of the Road, a compilation of stories told by folks who encountered eerie phenomena while traveling highways and back roads.

October 30th, 2012. Steven Harbin | Annie Wilder | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 3 comments |

The Boolean Gate: Mark Twain saves the world?

The Boolean Gate by Walter Jon Williams

Walter Jon Williams’ The Boolean Gate is a story about the famous friendship between Sam Clemens / Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla. Clemens was fascinated with Tesla’s scientific experiments and spent a lot of time in Tesla’s lab. Williams’ version of this relationship suggests that Clemens discovered that Tesla’s genius had some supernatural help. When Clemens realizes what’s going on, he has to make a decision that may affect the future of the human race.

The Boolean Gate is a fast-moving novella (I read it in just a couple of hours) filled with lots of interesting facts about Sam Clemens,

October 30th, 2012. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Walter Jon Williams | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Magazine Monday: Nightmare, Issue 2

It’s not the magazine that’s horrible; it’s that the magazine contains horror fiction. A perfect mood setter for Halloween!

Because Wednesday is Halloween, here’s another serving of the new magazine Nightmare, edited by John Joseph Adams. The second issue of this new online magazine makes me think we’ve got something special going here: the fiction is excellent, the nonfiction informative, the art compelling.

The first story in this issue is “Construction Project” by Desirina Boskovich. The married couple who tell this story in first person plural believe that a creature is waiting for them should they drop their guard for even a moment.

Father Gaetano’s Puppet Catechism: Irresistible

Father Gaetano’s Puppet Catechism by Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden

There is just no way I can resist reading a novella called Father Gaetano’s Puppet Catechism, especially when it’s written by the guy who created Hellboy. As I expected, I was rewarded with just over 4 hours of constant audio entertainment.

The young priest Father Gaetano has just been assigned to a church in Sicily that has taken in children who were orphaned during World War II. The nuns love the children and are doing the best they can,

Schismatrix Plus: What a great read

Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling

What a great read this was. I’ve never been much of a fan of cyberpunk and I’m not particularly a fan of the authors generally noted to be founders of the genre (William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, etc.), but I really loved Schismatrix Plus and it has put Bruce Sterling near the top of my list for sci-fi writers. Sterling does an excellent job of melding his cyberpunk ethos with a space opera-ish background that is combined with the ‘Grand Tour’

October 29th, 2012. Terry Lago´s rating: 5 | Bruce Sterling | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Cuttlefish: Interesting world-building carries this submarine adventure

Cuttlefish by Dave Freer

It’s 1953 in a world where the British Empire never collapsed, the first World War lasted one year, and the second never happened. England commands a global, coal-fueled empire and has hastened rapid global warming. London, like Venice, is a city of canals. Irish rebels and “London undergrounders” wage a guerilla revolution against the crown. This is the world of Dave Freer’s YA submarine adventure Cuttlefish.

Tim Barnabas is a young crewman on the coal-powered submarine Cuttlefish. Clara Calland is the daughter of an imprisoned Irish rebel and a prominent chemist.

Trucker Ghost Stories: Eerie tales by travelers

Trucker Ghost Stories, And Other True Tales of Haunted Highways, Weird Encounters, and Legends of the Road edited by Annie Wilder

I’ve always been a fan of ghost stories, both the literary kind, as written by M.R. James and Russell Kirk, to name a couple, and those related by a friend or acquaintance over a campfire or a cup of coffee on a late night. Annie Wilder has compiled a collection of the latter in her latest book Trucker Ghost Stories,

Alex Bell Asks “Who’s Your Favourite Anti-Hero?”

Today we welcome author Alex Bell whose book Lex Trent Versus the Gods has just been released in paperback in the U.S. Amanda enjoyed Lex Trent and I loved Alex Bell’s novel Jasmyn, so we’re pleased to introduce you to Alex who wants to talk about anti-heroes.

There’s no denying that strong, noble, handsome heroes can be enjoyable to read about but, personally, I have always had an immense soft spot for the anti-hero – whether he (or she) is a conman cheating people out of their wealth,

October 25th, 2012. Kelly Lasiter | Alex Bell | Thoughtful Thursday | 19 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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