Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: March 2014

The Winner’s Curse: Rutkoski won me over

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Marie Rutkoski is a good writer. I’ve known that from when I read The Cabinet of Wonders, the first book of her KRONOS CHRONICLES, a Middle Grade trilogy. While the subsequent books weren’t quite as good, I still enthusiastically recommended the series. And I can tell Rutkoski is still a good writer after reading her newest YA entry, The Winner’s Curse, because even though I had some large issues with the novel, issues that normally would have made me not recommend it,

The Gods Themselves: Asimov’s favorite of his SF novels

The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

“Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.”

Isaac Asimov’s The Gods Themselves earned the Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, the Nebula Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. About 15 years ago it was put on the Locus list of All Time Best Science Fiction Novels.

If you’re anything like me, that’s enough to put The Gods Themselves on your To Be Read List and,

The Walk up Nameless Ridge: Engrossing short story

The Walk up Nameless Ridge by Hugh Howey

The Walk up Nameless Ridge is a short story (18 pages, 39 minutes on audio) written by indie writer Hugh Howey of recent WOOL fame. You can order it for less than $2 at Audible or purchase it for 99c as a Kindle Single and then add the professional narration (Jonathan Davis!!!) for 99c more.

The story is about a mountain climber who hopes to be the first person to summit the famous 60,000 foot peak on the planet Eno,

Sailor Twain by Mark Siegel

Sailor Twain: Or the Mermaid in the Hudson by Mark Siegel

So while I keep saying that I appear not to be the person for whom graphic novels are created, as I have hardly ever found one I strongly respond to, I’m also stubborn (or dumb) enough to keep trying now and then. The most recent attempt was Mark Siegel’s Sailor Twain. Alas, I’m still that guy.

Set on a steamer traveling up and down the Hudson during the late 1800s, Sailor Twain is the story of two men — Twain,

March 28th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Grandville, Mon Amour by Bryan Talbot

Grandville, Mon Amour by Bryan Talbot

Grandville, Mon Amour is the second in Bryan Talbot’s steampunk graphic novel series with highly evolved animals, in a world where Napoleon conquered all of Europe and Britain has only been an independent country for twenty-three years. British badger Detective-Inspector Archie LeBrock and his partner Ratzi, a rat, are back on a case that will take them back to Paris, also called Grandville. As Ratzi puts it, “We’re like a pair of bloomin’ boomerangs.”

In the opening,

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves: On the Edge

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

[In our Edge of the Universe column, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.]

“…I would see his hand on the doorknob, the door beginning to swing shut. I have something to say! I’d tell him, and the door would stop part way.

“Start in the middle,

Half in Love, by Alex Hughes

Today we welcome Alex Hughes, author of the MINDSPACE INVESTIGATIONS series. The second novel, Sharp, was one of my favorite reads last year. I’ve just finished the excellent third volume, Marked, which will be released on April 1. In Marked, Adam is investigating a case at the Telepath’s Guild. Adam continues to be one of my favorite urban fantasy heroes because his struggles feel so viscerally real. The emotional agony and practical physical pain he combats as he struggles to maintain his sobriety in the face of difficult life transitions are poetically beautiful.

March 27th, 2014. John Hulet | Alex Hughes | Thoughtful Thursday | 23 comments |

The Tropic of Serpents: A wonderfully beguiling voice

The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan

In my review of Marie Brennan’s A Natural History of Dragons, I wrote that Brenan had me immediately with Lady Trent’s “wry, rebellious, sardonic voice,” but that the novel lost its edge about 100 pages in and never quite fully recovered, leaving me somewhat dissatisfied. I’m happy to say that the sequel, The Tropic of Serpents, kept that wonderfully beguiling voice, but managed to smooth out the problems with pacing,

March 27th, 2014. Bill Capossere and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Marie Brennan | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

Matter: An excellent introduction to The Culture

Matter by Iain M. Banks

Matter is the seventh book in Iain M. Bank’s popular CULTURE series about a utopian society run by a beneficent artificial intelligence organization called The Culture. I haven’t read any of the previous CULTURE novels which, I think, gives me a unique take on Matter. Reading through some of the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, I see that many CULTURE fans felt like the 620-page Matter was a drastic change in pace and tone.

WWWednesday: March 26, 2014

Lists and Awards

I’m list-lite this week, so here are Buzzfeed’s reasons that 2014 may be the best year for fantasy books in a long time. These aren’t necessarily my reasons that 2014 will be good for fantasy, because men-posing-with-medieval-weapons just isn’t my genre, but hey.

Articles and Such

And now for all the miscellany I could find! First, from Ryan, here’s a good Atlantic article asking why every YA action heroine has to be so tiny and fragile. Speaking as a girl who spent her middle school years hulking through the halls and reading YA fantasy about bird-boned girls who have mighty adventures—DUDE,

March 26th, 2014. Alix E. Harrow | World Wide Wednesday | 5 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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