Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: February 2013

The Postman: A powerful story about hope

The Postman by David Brin

Sixteen years after an apocalyptic event that nearly destroyed all human life on the earth, civilization consists only of small groups of suspicious people who have managed to band together for safety. These communities are spread out and preyed upon by roaming bandits or groups of “survivalists” who follow a despotic leader.

Gordon Krantz has been struggling to survive by himself in the Oregon wilderness. He’s been hoping to find a community where he can fit in, but when bandits steal all his clothes and gear,

American Elsewhere: Classical mythology meets American paranoia

American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett

I confess I had my doubts about American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett. I’ve read all three of his previous novels and he hasn’t let me down yet, but the mix of elements in his latest one left me feeling skeptical. It just seemed like too much: rural horror; a Stepford-like village; quantum weirdness; tentacled inter-dimensional creatures; a secret government lab; people who aren’t what they seem; Elder gods; classical mythology; muscle cars, hidden files and video footage; a pink moon.

I’m pleased to report that Bennett pulls it off once again.

Between: Did Not Finish

Between by Kerry Schafer

I hate to give a DNF review to Between by Kerry Schafer. I love finding new authors to read, the cover art is pretty (check out the subtle scales on her shoulder!), and the premise sounded great. Unfortunately, I only got about halfway through the book before setting it aside.

Schafer’s heroine, Vivian, has always had strange dreams, and now those dreams are affecting reality, for her and everyone around her. She’s an ER doctor, and one of her patients dies after an attack by dragons — dragons that come from the Between,

February 13th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 0.1 | Kerry Schafer | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

The Best of All Possible Worlds: Great concept, not so great execution

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

I have to confess that I spent at least the first third of Karen Lord’s The Best of All Possible Worlds mostly annoyed and disappointed by the writing. I found the writing flat, the world-building slim, and the character relationships implausible, simplistic, and melodramatic. But around halfway through, the book, despite its flaws, started to grow on me somewhat and by the halfway point I was mostly in, though I still had some major issues.

The setting is a far-future in a universe populated by different types of humans,

Magazine Monday: Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet No. 28

An issue of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet always lands in my mail with accompanying hearts, unicorns, flowers, and an unearthly music that wafts through the air and draws my mind and spirit into its pages. Not a planned event, it’s published irregularly, but it’s always a treat. Somehow this issue just called for the unicorns and flowers iteration first, because it put me in such a good mood.

The last story in the issue, “The Book of Judgment” by Helen Marshall is my favorite, not just because Jane Austen is my favorite writer,

February 11th, 2013. Terry Weyna | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Terror by Night: Classic Ghost and Horror Stories by Ambrose Bierce

Terror by Night: Classic Ghost and Horror Stories by Ambrose Bierce

Wordsworth Editions, published in London, has a wonderful thing going with its current series entitled “Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural,” bringing back into print short story collections and full-length novels from such relatively unknown authors as Gertrude Atherton, Edith Nesbit, D.K. Broster, Marjorie Bowen, May Sinclair and Dennis Wheatley. The imprint’s collection of horror tales from Ohio-born Ambrose Bierce is a very satisfying and generous one,

Deathworld 2: The Ethical Engineer

Deathworld 2: The Ethical Engineer by Harry Harrison

Deathworld 2: The Ethical Engineer is the second of Harry Harrison’s novels set on Pyrrus, the planet that tries to kill most humans who set foot upon it. In the first DEATHWORLD novel, space rogue Jason dinAlt discovered the secret of Pyrrus and negotiated a very tense peace between the planet and its two human colonies.

Now Jason has a new problem. A man named Mikah, who represents the religious Truth Party, has arrived to arrest Jason for fleecing casinos across the universe.

Daredevil by Mark Waid

Daredevil (Volume One) by Mark Waid (writer) and various artists: Paolo Rivera, Joe Rivera, Marcos Martin, Javier Rodriguez, and Muntsa Vicente.

Mark Waid’s Daredevil is one of the best comic book titles of 2012, and I’m comparing his work with some of my favorite authors of all time who have written top-notch runs on Daredevil: Frank Miller, Brian Michael Bendis, and Ed Brubaker. Waid’s work, though different, is equally good, and even though I’d recommend as excellent starting points both the runs by Bendis and Brubaker,

February 8th, 2013. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Deathworld: Standard 1960s SF

Deathworld by Harry Harrison

Bored by life, Jason dinAlt is a gambling man, so when a mysterious stranger offers him millions of dollars to gamble with at a government-owned casino, Jason can’t resist, even though failure will probably result in his death. (It helps that Jason has some psi talents, even though they’re a little unpredictable.) After the casino episode, Jason finds that he must quickly depart the planet. When he learns that his mysterious benefactor is an ambassador of the most dangerous planet on the universe, he decides he’d like to go for a visit.

The Scourge of Muirwood: Ends a worthy YA fantasy epic

The Scourge of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler

In The Scourge of Muirwood, the third and final installment of Jeff Wheeler’s LEGENDS OF MUIRWOOD saga, Lia has discovered her true identity but is unable to tell anyone because the Medium has bound the information. Only a few people know and Colvin, the man Lia loves, is not one of them. While Lia broods about their relationship, she must be the Medium’s tool to save the world and hope that everything turns out in the end. Several interspersed chapters are flashbacks which tell the story of the prince of Pry-Ree and his knowledge that his daughter would be the world’s savior.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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