Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: January 2013

Spin: Every science fiction novel condensed into one book

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

With Spin, Robert Charles Wilson has condensed every science fiction novel into one book.

It’s quite an accomplishment, really, though the novel begins innocently enough. We’re in the near future with our narrator, Tyler Dupree, who is injected with a strange cure somewhere in Sumatra. The drug produces side effects, and one of them compels Tyler to tell his life’s story.

Tyler grew up in the little house “across the lawn.” His mother, Carol, cleaned the house of the Lawton family while Tyler played games with their children,

Museum of Thieves: Asked too much of me

Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner

She didn’t want to be safe. She wanted to be free.

It’s Separation Day and 12-year old Goldie is finally going to be separated from her parents and guardians. Literally separated. For in the town of Jewel, where the most important value is safety, children are always chained to a parent or guardian during the day and tied to the bedpost at night. And when they do something wrong, as Goldie is prone to do regularly, they’re put in heavy “punishment chains.”

This year the Grand Protector has lowered the separation age from 16 to 12 because she believes that Jewel is much safer than it used to be.

Magazine Monday: Asimov’s, February 2013

The February 2013 issue of Asimov’s is a delight from cover to cover. This time around, it’s the longer pieces that really given it is heft.

“The Weight of the Sunrise” by Vylar Kaftan is a fascinating alternate history novella that offers a pointed perspective on American history, serving as a sort of bookend to the recent film, “Lincoln.” Slavery was an evil obvious even to those who practiced human sacrifice and saw nothing wrong with incestuous marriages of royalty, as did the Incas, as Kaftan makes clear.

The Terror: Historical, horror, and literary fiction

The Terror by Dan Simmons

The Terror is based on the British vessels HMS Erebrus and HMS Terror and their voyage to discover a northwest passage in the 19th century. Using their unknown fate as a literary springboard, Dan Simmons freely fills the gap in history as his imagination allows, and in the process has created a work of historical fiction that transcends genre. Classified horror due to one of its plot devices, the novel is in fact much deeper in scope.

Starry River of the Sky: A quiet gem of a novel

Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin

Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin, is a thoughtful, delightful tale, a quiet little story of awakening and forgiveness that would not only be a great on-its-own book for middle-grade and YA, but would also make a wonderful read-aloud thanks to the folktales at its core. And while it’s definitely aimed at that younger group, don’t assume that means a lack of maturity, for Lin displays a sophisticated sense of both style and structure here.

Lex Luthor: Man of Steel

Lex Luthor: Man of Steel by Brian Azzarello (writer) & Lee Bermejo (artist)

Though I’m not a big fan of Superman comics, I am fascinated by his overlapping roles in American literature and popular culture. Therefore, I never hesitate to read Superman trades if they come highly recommended, as was Lex Luthor: Man of Steel. Though not as good as some of my other favorites like Superman: Red Son and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies,

January 11th, 2013. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

The Oracle’s Queen: Brings the TAMIR TRIAD to a close

The Oracle’s Queen by Lynn Flewelling

The Oracle’s Queen is the final novel in Lynn Flewelling’s TAMIR TRIAD, an epic story about a queen who has been prophesied to rule the land of Skala. To prevent the emergence of this queen, the king, who usurped the throne by killing his own female family members, has killed all the noble women and girls who could possibly challenge him. He doesn’t know that his own sister’s daughter has been hidden by dark magic and a heinous murder.

January 11th, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Lynn Flewelling | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Thoughtful Thursday: Books we loved in 2012

We’ve just posted our annual Favorites list — the best books we read which were published for the first time in 2012 in print or audio format. For today’s discussion, we’ll tell you why we like some of these books and ask about your favorite books from 2012. One commenter picks a book from our stacks.

You can find our reviews for each of the novels listed below by clicking on the linked author names.
BE SURE TO VIEW OUR COMPLETE LIST OF FAVORITES HERE!

January 10th, 2013. Terry Weyna | Best of the Year, Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 12 comments |

FanLit’s Favorite Books of 2012

Here are our favorite books published in 2012. Hover over the cover to see who recommends each book. Please keep in mind that we did not read every SFF book published in 2012, so we know we’ve missed some good ones! You can read some of our thoughts about these books in today’s later Thoughtful Thursday post, and you can add your comments there, too. We look forward to hearing about your favorite books of 2012!

ADULT SFF

CHILDREN / YOUNG ADULT

ANTHOLOGIES/ STORY COLLECTIONS

AUDIOBOOKS released in 2012

COMICS

We’ve discussed some of these books here.

January 10th, 2013. FanLit | Best of the Year | 1 comment |

Alien Earth: A magnificent science fiction tale

Alien Earth by Megan Lindholm

Megan Lindholm is perhaps better known under her pseudonym Robin Hobb. Since the appearance of Assassin’s Apprentice in 1995, her work set in the Realm of the Elderlings has gained her a wide popularity among fans of epic fantasy. Before the emergence of Hobb, Lindholm had already published ten other novels. A lot of these are out of print these days and that is a shame; the seven I’ve read so far are more than worth reading. It should be noted that Lindholm had a good reason to adopt another pen name.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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