The Cats of Tanglewood Forest by Charles de Lint
From its charming dustcover to the muted two-page illustration at the end, The Cats of Tanglewood Forest is a beautiful book that I would love to read with, or to, a child. Charles de Lint and artist Charles Vess form a perfect collaboration here, with a wonderful, magical story for middle readers.
This novel is an expansion of de Lint’s novella, The Circle of Cats. De Lint uses as inspiration many of the Appalachian folk-tales,
March 7th, 2013. Marion Deeds and Ruth Arnell´s rating: 5 | Charles De_Lint | Children | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill
Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill is not what I would label a particularly well-written novel. In fact, in many ways, I’d call it a poorly written one. But despite the several issues I had with major aspects of the work, I have to admit that by the end I was mostly enjoying myself and curious as to where the story was going to go.
The novel opens up with a fairy-tale like romance, one that was a bit too sugary for my liking,
March 7th, 2013. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5, 3.5 | C. Robert Cargill | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
Iain M. Banks’s Use of Weapons is the third CULTURE novel. For those not in the know, the Culture is an intergalactic paradise run by its extremely sophisticated machines. Its people are augmented so that they are able to control and enhance every function their body serves. Life in the Culture is pretty great, and so stories are rarely set there.
Fortunately for Banks, things occasionally get a little hairy on the distant edges of the Culture when it is forced to interact with other societies.
March 6th, 2013. Ryan Skardal, Stuart Starosta and Kat Hooper | Iain M. Banks | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
The Mote in God’s Eye, co-written by frequent collaborators Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, is a classic First Contact science fiction story which Robert A. Heinlein called “possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read.” The story takes place in 3017 AD in the future of Jerry Pournelle’s CODOMINION universe (though it’s not necessary to have read any of those books to enjoy The Mote in God’s Eye).
March 6th, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven | Audio | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Suppose that the world had gone through an apocalypse based on a conflict between two groups of super-technologically-advanced people with fundamentally different beliefs on how technology should be applied. One group wanted the logic of technology to replace human thought, and the other wanted technology to merely enhance human perception. Could this difference provide the footing for outright war?
Ecktor is a Demi, a human who has been enhanced with physical and mental abilities hard-coded into his DNA. His wife has died; her memories are everywhere and permeate the very home he lives in.
March 5th, 2013. John Hulet´s rating: 5 | L.E. Modesitt_Jr | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Collection: The Big Trip Up Yonder, 2BR02B
Brilliance Audio is now producing some science fiction story collections on audio, and recently they sent me a few of them to review. The first one that caught my eye was this one by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. It contains two related stories: “The Big Trip Up Yonder” narrated by Emmett Casey and “2BR02B” narrated by Kevin Killavey. I recognized both as stories that were produced on audio by Jincin Recordings and have been available at Audible.com for a couple of years. In case you didn’t know (and in case you’re interested),
March 5th, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Kurt Vonnegut | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Issue 112 (January 10, 2013) of Beneath Ceaseless Skies begins with “Death Sent” by Christian K. Martinez. It’s a science fictional story, or at least steampunk, and depicts the end of the world — or at least the end of the works of the human race. As the story opens, a great star lens, the last of them, has fallen to the earth. It’s a moody piece that paints a picture of this world, but there is almost no plot.
The second story in this issue is better. In “The Stone Oaks” by Stephen Case,
March 4th, 2013. Terry Weyna | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By by John Farris
Having never read anything by John Farris, I stumbled upon his 1977 novel All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By after seeing David J. Schow‘s very laudatory remarks concerning the book in Jones & Newman‘s overview volume Horror: 100 Best Books (1988). In his essay, Schow calls it a “unique horror novel; the strongest single work yet produced by the field’s most powerful individual voice,”
March 4th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | John Farris | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
After having dealt with the Vord horde in Academ’s Fury, there are new worries in Cursor’s Fury, the third novel in Jim Butcher’s CODEX ALERA saga. The rebel uprising has gained strength and the aging and heirless First Lord of Alera is in danger of being overthrown. Those who are loyal, including Tavi and his friends and relatives, are targets. While Bernard, Amara, and Isana make some dubious alliances to try to counter the rebels,
March 4th, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Jim Butcher | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Point of Impact by Jay Faerber (writer) & Koray Kuranel (artist)
Jay Faerber’s Point of Impact, though not destined to become a great comic in the canon of graphic storytelling, is a perfect short story told in four issues, which is exactly what he tries to do. Sometimes one is in the mood for a large, sprawling epic, and other times, one just wants to read a poem or short story. You don’t need any background information about superheroes, supervillains, or mutants. All you need to do is start reading,
March 1st, 2013. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…