Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: October 2012

Lucifer’s Hammer: Exciting disaster story

Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

When bored millionaire Tim Hamner discovers a new comet, he’s excited to finally accomplish something without the help of his family. Harvey Randall, who’s producing a TV documentary about the comet, expects his show to be wildly popular. And the American and Russian astronauts who are chosen to study the comet are proud to be chosen for such an important international mission.

All the experts said there was no way the Hamner comet would hit the Earth. But there are always plenty of people who are ready to panic — the type who start hoarding guns,

Jack of Shadows: A forgotten classic that cries out to be remembered

Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny

In 1971, Roger Zelazny penned a wonderful mix of fantasy and science fiction that I think rivals his AMBER books for sheer imagination and exciting action. Jack of Shadows is set on an imaginary world, similar in some respects to our Earth, vastly different in others. One side of the planet (which does not rotate) is always in light, while the other is constantly at night. The “dayside” is much like 20th century Earth, with science ruling and the inhabitants enjoying the fruits of modern industry and technology.

October 25th, 2012. Steven Harbin´s rating: 5 | Roger Zelazny | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

WWWednesday: Run My Life

You can win the entire Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Leguin.

The only thing more annoying than Christmas commercials earlier than Halloween is the inevitable Hobbitization of everything, including things that shouldn’t be Hobbitized.

There are only two links today because I’m trying something new. And these links are my way of foreshadowing.

I’m going to ‘fess up, here.

I hate Earthsea. Hahahahaa, I said it. I read the first book and I thought it was boring and stupid.

Second confession,

October 24th, 2012. Ruth Arnell | World Wide Wednesday | 13 comments |

Red Prophet: Entertaining alternate history

Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card

Red Prophet is the second book in Orson Scott Card’s THE TALES OF ALVIN MAKER, an alternate history set in a frontier America in which folk magic is real. In the first book, Seventh Son, we were introduced to the main protagonist of the series, Alvin Miller who, because he’s the seventh son of a seventh son, is a gifted healer. We meet Alvin as a baby and follow him into boyhood. At the end of the story he has a vision of a shining man who gives him moral guidance.

Kat, Incorrigible: Magical Austen for the middle grade reader

Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis

I was twelve years of age when I chopped off my hair, dressed as a boy, and set off to save my family from impending ruin. I made it almost to the end of my front garden.

Thus begin the adventures of Katherine Ann Stephenson, also known as Kat. Kat is twelve and has a plethora of problems. Her oldest sibling, Charles, has gambled away all the family’s money and been sent home from Oxford. Her oldest sister Elissa is in love with the idea of being the tragic gothic heroine who sacrifices everything to marry and save her family from destruction.

The Monster Men: Edgar Rice Burroughs melds Dr. Moreau with Frankenstein

The Monster Men by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs are both legion and loyal, as evidenced by the long lasting popularity of his characters. Tarzan of course is his most famous character, and John Carter of Mars (and Virginia) was the main character of a recent poorly marketed (but I thought still well done) Disney film. But Burroughs was an extremely prolific author who wrote a lot more than just Tarzan and Martian stories. One of his earliest efforts was this adventure story set in the south Pacific near Borneo.

The Courts of Chaos: Corwin’s psychedelic hellride

The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny

The Courts of Chaos is the very short last installment of the CORWIN CYCLE of THE CHRONICLES OF AMBER and the fifth volume of the entire series. If you haven’t read the previous books, you’ve got no business here — go away. I don’t want to ruin it for you. Go read the first book, Nine Princes in Amber, and continue on from there.

OK. So Oberon is back and we learn that he’s been manipulating events all along.

Magazine Monday: Asimov’s, October/November 2012

Sheila Williams, the editor of Asimov’s, says that the annual October/November issue is “slightly spooky.” There are a few frights in the magazine, as well as some solid science fiction, but overall, I was generally disappointed in this double issue.

Alan Smale’s novella, “The Mongolian Book of the Dead,” was not one of the disappointments; to the contrary, it is a nicely imagined tale of what might happen if the Chinese decide to mount a military invasion of Mongolia — an independent landlocked country sandwiched between Russia and China.

Ironskin: Part gothic novel, part fairytale, all intriguing

Ironskin by Tina Connolly

The cover of Tina Connolly’s debut fantasy novel Ironskin describes it as a “… beauty and the beast tale, beautifully and cleverly reversed.” Is it Beauty and the Beast? Not really. Is it a re-telling of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre? No, not really. Is it good? Heck, yeah.

Jane Eliot comes to Silver Birches, a war-damaged house on the moors, at the edge of a sinister, fey-filled wood. She has accepted a position as governess to a little girl who has a “delicate situation.” Jane understands the nature of this situation better than most.

October 22nd, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Tina Connolly | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

In the Green Star’s Glow: Decent but predictable ending

In the Green Star’s Glow by Lin Carter

Finally, our hero Karn, the crippled Earthman whose soul has been implanted in the body of a boy on a planet under a green star, comes to the end of his grand adventure. He has been through a series of harrowing events while trying to save the princess he has fallen in love with. In this last installment, he gets a short rest and then everything comes to a head. Old enemies resurface, new monsters appear and, perhaps most challenging of all, he’s captured by a band of man-hating teenage girls.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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