Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: February 2013

The Mad Scientist’s Daughter: Beautifully written but disturbing

The Mad Scientist’s Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke

“Cat, this is Finn. He’s going to be your tutor.”

The Mad Scientist’s Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke is a beautifully written story. Clarke evokes a beautiful contrast between the wild gardens and streams Cat inhabits as a child under the watchful eye of her tutor, and the cold, sterile, unfeeling world she inhabits as an adult in contact with other humans. At its core, this is a romance between a human and a cyborg. Though an interesting examination of what it means to be human,

February 19th, 2013. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 3.5 | Cassandra Rose Clarke | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |

Reflex: Exciting sequel to Jumper

Reflex by Steven Gould

Reflex is the second book in Steven Gould’s JUMPER series. Ten years have passed since we left Davy and Millie. Now they’re married and Davy works occasionally for the National Security Agency. On one of his trips to Washington D.C. to meet with his contact there, he gets drugged and kidnapped by a group of people who want to use his powers for their own evil purposes. As they work to get Davy under their control, Millie uses her skills as a psychologist to search for him.

Magazine Monday: Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January/February 2013

The latest issue of F&SF is stuffed with good reading. I can’t pick a favorite, as I often do; many of the stories hit that sweet spot. Robert Reed’s short story, “Among Us,” is a good example: it’s about the Neighbors, creatures who look exactly like humans but are not, though they may not know that themselves. The narrator studies the Neighbors in every way possible — almost. There comes a moment when he is not willing to let research take its course, and whether that proves something to him, to the researchers,

The Green Man: Genuinely creepy

The Green Man by Kingsley Amis

Kingsley Amis’s sole horror novel, The Green Man, had long been on my list of “must read” books, for the simple reason that it has been highly recommended by three sources that I trust. British critic David Pringle chose it for inclusion in his overview volume Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels, as did Michael Moorcock in Fantasy: The 100 Best Books AND Brian Aldiss in Horror: 100 Best Books.

Jumper: Lots of fun… and that’s about it

Jumper by Steven Gould

The first time Davy jumped was when his dad was beating him. The second time was when a trucker tried to rape him. Both times Davy ended up in his favorite place — the local public library. Soon Davy learned that he could control his teleportation, so he left home and started a new life in New York City. His new skill, the ability to instantly transport himself to any place he’s ever visited, helped him achieve the freedom he always desired. At first Davy lives for himself,

Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia

Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia by Greg Rucka (writer) and J.G. Jones (artist)

I’m a card-carrying geek if there ever was one, but there are a few areas where my fannish education has been a little spotty, one of them being superhero comics. It’s not for lack of enjoying them when I do read them; it’s more that the reams of backstory and frequent reboots feel a little daunting. Then, this past Christmas, I found a copy of The Hiketeia among the presents from my boyfriend, along with a Post-It note that read,

February 15th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore: Nerdy and bookish

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is a romp of a first novel by Robin Sloan. It’s a perfect book for booklovers who lean toward the mysterious and fantastic, blurring genre lines throughout to afford readers a marvelous time.

The novel begins when Clay Jannon, the first-person narrator, is responding to an advertisement for a clerk in a 24-hour bookstore in San Francisco. Clay was educated as a graphic artist, but he’s finding jobs scarce since his work designing a logo and a website for a bagel bakery and acting as the “voice” of @NewBagel on Twitter — definitely a new economy sort of job.

Chessboard Planet and Other Stories: A wonderful collection from Kuttner and Moore

Chessboard Planet and Other Stories by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore

Chessboard Planet and Other Stories is a collection by science fiction’s foremost husband-and-wife writing team, Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore. The collection is comprised of a novella, two longish short stories, and a short piece.

The novella, “Chessboard Planet,” originally appeared under the title “The Fairy Chessmen” in the January and February 1946 issues of John W. Campbell’s Astounding Science-Fiction and, in my opinion, is an unjustly forgotten masterpiece. In it, the United States and the European union known as the Falangists have been at war for decades,

Romantic getaways

Venice?
Aruba?
Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop?

Everyone loves a romantic getaway!

This Valentine’s Day, we want to know where you’d like to take your sweetheart to celebrate — and the sky is most certainly not the limit. Anywhere in any science fiction or fantasy world is fair game.

As for me, I choose the Beast’s castle from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. The food is superb, the dishes will sing a lovely tune to slow dance to, and afterward, there’s that library to explore!

How about you?

February 14th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter | Thoughtful Thursday | 13 comments |

Blood Oranges: Caitlín R. Kiernan tries her hand at urban fantasy

Blood Oranges by Kathleen Tierney

Tired of vampires? Or werewolves? Or girls who can dispatch the critters with no effort, swinging a stake through the heart as if it were a knife through butter? Yeah, me too. But give me a vampire who is a werewolf who is also a young female human hunter of vampires and werewolves, and we’re in business. Make her the unreliable, foul-mouthed narrator of her own story, and you’ve got Kathleen Tierney’s Siobhan Quinn in her first adventure, Blood Oranges.

February 14th, 2013. Terry Weyna´s rating: 4 | Caitlín R. Kiernan, Kathleen Tierney | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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