Today we welcome Erin Bow whose novel Plain Kate (which I loved) made our BEST OF 2010 list. Her second YA novel, Sorrow’s Knot was released this week and I can’t wait to read it. Since it’s Halloween, Erin’s here to talk about creepiness and to give away a copy of Sorrow’s Knot to one random commenter with a U.S. address.
Happy Halloween, fantasy readers and writers! Let’s talk about how to make monsters creepy.
There’s a curious thing I call the Sauron paradox,
October 31st, 2013. Kelly Lasiter | Erin Bow | Thoughtful Thursday | 11 comments |
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
The Light Fantastic is a direct sequel to Terry Pratchett’s first DISCWORLD novel, The Color of Magic, in which we met the failed and cowardly wizard Rincewind, his traveling companion Twoflower (a rich and naively brave tourist), and Twoflower’s animated sentient Luggage. I believe that The Light Fantastic is the only DISCWORLD novel that’s a direct sequel of a previous novel.
The reason Rincewind is such a poor wizard is that he’s got a dark powerful spell (“the eighth spell”) lodged in his brain and it won’t let him memorize any other spells.
October 31st, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Terry Pratchett | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
In Nicola Griffith’s Ammonite, we find a world without men. If you’re imagining a serene society ruled by wise matriarchs, or a planet of space-babes waiting for Kirk to rescue them, then perhaps this book is not for you. Because Griffith’s world is different. Her book is about reworking the familiar ploys of science-fictions past and making them wonderfully new. It’s classically science fiction, in that it pushes irreverently against the boundaries of classic science fiction.
The first few pages of the book are filled with enough airlocks,
October 30th, 2013. Alix E. Harrow´s rating: 4.5 | Nicola Griffith | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Dominion: A Coldfire Saga by C.S. Friedman
Update: Since I wrote the following review, I have read the other COLDFIRE novels. Find my reviews here.
Ever since I read a few novels by C.S. Friedman last year (In Conquest Born, The Wilding, The Madness Season and This Alien Shore) I’ve been practically desperate to begin her more famous COLDFIRE SAGA.
October 29th, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | C.S. Friedman | Audio | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Mira Grant is the science fiction side of Seanan McGuire, the fantasy writer responsible for the OCTOBER DAYE and INCRYPTID fantasy series. Her last outing was the NEWSFLESH trilogy, which I loved (especially the first book, Feed). Now she’s published the first novel in the PARASITOLOGY duology, Parasite. And it’s a doozy.
Parasitology opens with the transcription of a video recording.
October 28th, 2013. Terry Weyna and Stefan Raets | Mira Grant | Horror | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Shadows has all the beloved elements of a Robin McKinley novel: the strong female lead, the endearing team of animals and talismans, the never-quite-articulated magic, the laconic romance, and the tendency to give characters one-syllable names. For those familiar pieces alone, Shadows is worth reading. But McKinley’s horizons are smaller than they used to be, and fit more easily into the bounds of young adult fiction.
When we meet Maggie, she’s a sulky,
October 28th, 2013. Alix E. Harrow´s rating: 3.5 | Robin McKinley | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Apollo’s Song (Parts I & II) by Osamu Tezuka
Apollo’s Song (Part I and Part II) by Osamu Tezuka is a imaginative tale of out-of-body experience, time travel, fantasy, science fiction, mythology and love, all by the God of Manga himself. If you’ve never heard of Osamu Tezuka, you are missing out. He’s best known in the United States for Astro Boy, his very early comic-turned-anime that was broadcast in the U.S. as a Japanese-import English-dubbed cartoon.
October 25th, 2013. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon
Charlie Johns has woken up in a strange place called Ledom (that’s “model” spelled backwards) in what appears to be a future where human beings have evolved. These future humans have some really amazing technology, there’s no night, they don’t require sleep, they’ve cured many diseases, and there’s no pollution, poverty, or war.
But what’s most significant is that they’ve abolished gender — humans are now hermaphrodites. Charlie sees men who are pregnant, taking care of babies, and wearing pink bikini underwear. As he lives among these people who have no differentiated gender roles,
October 25th, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Theodore Sturgeon | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
The Etched City by K.J. Bishop
The Etched City is a story about a deteriorating tropical city whose denizens include the monstrous, the deranged, and the metamorphic, circling each other in rainy alleys and hot cafes. It’s been lauded as an intelligent and alluring novel. Bishop has been compared flatteringly with Miéville and Moorcock. While The Etched City certainly has plenty of brains and courage, it may be missing its heart.
The book opens on the dusty fringes of civilization,
October 25th, 2013. Alix E. Harrow´s rating: 3 | K.J. Bishop | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
So last time my colleagues gave me the pulpit, I got you all going about those fantasy series that went on well past their expiration date. The ones where you pull book 4 or 5 or 8 off the shelf and go “Honey, does this smell bad to you? Could you smell this?” And then your significant other goes, “Why would I smell that? Do you think it’s bad?” And you go, “Yeah.” And they’re all, “So what would possess you to think I want to smell it? What world do you live in where anyone… ” Well,
October 24th, 2013. Bill Capossere | Thoughtful Thursday | 11 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!