New Monthly Comics: TEN GRAND by J. Michael Straczynski
In my previous two columns, I’ve talked about the advantages of having a “pull list” and buying comics on a monthly basis instead of merely waiting for a collection to come out as a trade edition. I also suggested a few titles that are good ones to start with right now since they are just beginning. In the first column on monthly comics, I recommended VELVET by Ed Brubaker and THE DREAM MERCHANT by Nathan Edmondson.
September 6th, 2013. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | J. Michael Straczynski | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
I want to live in Sarah Beth Durst’s brain. Every time I turn around, she has a new book out, and it’s completely different from the last one. Her imagination is seemingly boundless. Another thing I appreciate about her books is that they stand alone. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good series as much as the next girl, but there’s also something to be said for a self-contained novel.
Laini Taylor, author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone,
September 6th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Sarah Beth Durst | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
I usually give books sent for me to review a lot more of a chance than books I pick up on my own, having some sense of obligation. And that was the case with Fireblood by Jeff Wheeler. According to my trusty Kindle, I read sixty-seven percent, giving it more than a week of picking it up and putting it down. Generally, if I can’t finish a book in two or three days, I know I’m having problems with it. So over a week and barely past halfway through,
September 6th, 2013. Bill Capossere´s rating: 0.1 | Jeff Wheeler | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Invincible is the second book in Jack Campbell’s LOST FLEET: BEYOND THE FRONTIER series which is a spin-off of his LOST FLEET series. Essentially, it’s just book eight in the LOST FLEET series. It follows the same characters that are beginning a new chapter of life after Captain Black Jack Geary finally got them home to Alliance space. Now they’ve been sent back to space to discover what they can about the alien species that lives “beyond the frontier.” Why would the same crew be sent back to space after they’ve been gone for so long?
September 5th, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Jack Campbell | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Equations of Life by Simon Morden
I picked up Equations of Life, the first novel in Simon Morden’s SAMUIL PETROVITCH series, after receiving a copy of his latest novel The Curve of the Earth for review. The new novel is the fourth one set in the series, but it came billed as a good point to get started if you missed the first three books, which form a trilogy of sorts. Still, being somewhat obsessive about these things, I decided to go back and read the first book rather than jump in at The Curve of the Earth.
September 5th, 2013. Stefan Raets´s rating: 2 | Simon Morden | SFF Reviews | no comments |
If you took The Canterbury Tales, Ship of Fools, The Origin of Species, and And Then There Were None, mixed them all up and added a pinch of Asimov, Brin, Blish and maybe a few others, you’d have something approximating James Gunn’s newest novel, Transcendental. While those are some quality ingredients, and there were some long moments of pure deliciousness,
September 4th, 2013. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | James Gunn | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Vortex by Robert Charles Wilson
Turk Findley has been returned to Equatoria ten thousand years after the Hypotheticals took him and Isaac. Things have changed. The Ring of Worlds that was connected by the Arches remains, but the societies that once traveled between these interplanetary portals have died away and been replaced. The Earth, sadly, is a wasteland. Its oceans are too acidic and its air is too poisonous to support life. Unfortunately, when the Hypotheticals connected Earth to other worlds, humanity began importing oil from Equatoria, which boosted the economy but destroyed our planet.
September 4th, 2013. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Robert Charles Wilson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The World Jones Made by Philip K. Dick
By 1956, the sensation of seeing his name in print was not a new one for author Philip K. Dick. Between 1952 and 1955, he had placed around 75 (!) short stories in the various science fiction magazines and digests of the day, and in 1955 his first novel, Solar Lottery, saw its first publication. That novel appeared in one of those cute little “Ace doubles” (D-103, for all you collectors out there), backed with Leigh Brackett’s The Big Jump.
September 4th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
MaddAddam is the concluding volume of Margaret Atwood’s post human-apocalypse trilogy, which began with Oryx and Crake and continued with Year of the Flood. I say “Post-human-apocalypse” rather than post-apocalyptic because more so than most novels in this sub-genre, I’d say Atwood makes it pretty clear that our apocalypse is not the world’s, that in fact, this little blue ball of water and rock will spin on quite nicely without us,
September 3rd, 2013. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Margaret Atwood | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: Three Adventures by Garth Nix
When I think of Garth Nix I think of excellent fantasy literature for children, but Nix writes for adults, too. Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: Three Adventures is a collection of three previously published stories about a knight and artillerist named Sir Hereward and a magically animated puppet called Mr. Fitz. The duo works for the Council for the Saftey of the World and they’ve taken a vow to hunt down and exterminate the supernatural beings who are on a proscribed list of evil godlets.
September 3rd, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Garth Nix | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Thanks for the kind words, Ira! Much appreciated!
Fine review
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!