HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!
This week marks our SEVENTH birthday. Some of us (Kat, John, and I) have been around since the beginning (June 2007). Rebecca and Kelly joined us in 2008. Ryan and Terry arrived in 2010. Marion and Tim showed up in 2011, Brad and Steven joined in 2012. Sandy was a guest here for a couple of years before finally giving in and signing on a couple of months ago.
June 12th, 2014. Bill Capossere | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 27 comments |
The blurb of Lauren Owen’s debut novel The Quick piqued my interest, with its talk of an unlikely romance, Victorian London’s secret underworld, and a mysterious members-only institution, The Aegolius Club. And its cover, an understated black-and-white photo of a young man reading in a library, spoke to the part of me that loves elegant, emotionally-withdrawn period dramas. Had I known it was another vampire novel, I might have been less excited about picking it up. And that would have been a real shame.
June 12th, 2014. Kate Lechler´s rating: 4 | Lauren Owen | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell by Paul Dini (author) and Joe Quinones (artist)
Paul Dini’s Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell is a stand-alone graphic novel that tells a single tale of their working together; however, Dini also works in some flashbacks that flesh out the history of Canary’s and Zatanna’s relationship, my favorite parts of the book. Overall the story is a good one, but it’s not exceptional. And as a story about two strong women, it fails in a few ways that are disappointing considering the story was published in 2014.
June 12th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 2 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
On this day in 2003, the Spirit Rover was launched, beginning the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. You can learn more about Spirit Rover here: it will leave you feeling a little teary-eyed and inexplicably proud of a machine, just like when you saw Wall-E.
Writing, Editing, and Publishing:
It’s award season! As I announce these awards, you should just imagine me hopping for 3 ½ minutes like Hugh Jackman did at the Tonys. Because that’s totally what I’m doing. Right now.
The Campbell and Sturgeon awards were announced today.
June 11th, 2014. Kate Lechler | World Wide Wednesday | 3 comments |
Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress
Nancy Kress won a Nebula and a Hugo in 1991 for her novella “Beggars in Spain,” about genetically altered humans who don’t need to sleep. In 1993 she expanded the novella into a novel and ultimately into a series.
The first quarter of Beggars in Spain is basically the original novella, in which the reader meets Leisha Camden, the genetically altered child of multi-billionaire Roger Camden. Lithe, golden-haired, blue-eyed and beautiful, Leisha is also extraordinarily intelligent and sleepless.
June 11th, 2014. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Nancy Kress | Hugo Award, Nebula Award | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Secret Sharer and Other Stories by Robert Silverberg
The Secret Sharer and Other Stories by Robert Silverberg is available on Audible and offers a top-notch performance by Robertson Dean. The title is a little misleading, I think. There are only three selections included, and only one is a short story. The other two seem to be novellas. However, based on the way Silverberg’s works have been repackaged and republished over the years, even those distinctions are difficult to make: For example, We Are for the Dark is included in both his collected short stories volume seven,
June 11th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Robert Silverberg | Audio, Nebula Award, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Last Coin by James P. Blaylock
Andrew and Rose Vanbergen have recently purchased a California inn which they are fixing up and getting ready for guests. They live in the inn along with aging Aunt Naomi, her numerous cats, and her companion, Mrs. Gummage. The Vanbergens have only one real guest so far — the mysterious Pepto-drinking Mr. Pennyman.
Andrew has grand plans for the inn. Unfortunately, he’s also a bit of a slacker and he’s always managing to find excuses for doing anything but the actual work that needs to get done.
June 10th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | James P. Blaylock | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Rachel Morgan has been through a lot since she left the IS and went private. She’s lost love, found love, been betrayed over and over again, made friends with demons, found out that she’s a demon and now she has to save her friends from the clutches of the demons one more time. It’s nothing she hasn’t done before, except that this time she faces a demon that all the rest of them are afraid of which is truly ironic since he is their creation.
The exact biological issues that are all tied up with being a witch or a demon and the genetic disease known as rosewood syndrome are the major theme of Rachel’s childhood.
June 10th, 2014. John Hulet´s rating: 4 | Kim Harrison | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The High Place by James Branch Cabell
James Branch Cabell was a phenomenal talent. He writes with wit and style, with turns of phrase that can take your breath away and displays of keen insight into human nature. Despite all this I find myself unable to love his works wholeheartedly. I’ve been accused of being something of a cynic or pessimist myself (I prefer the term pragmatist, thank you very much), but Cabell makes me look like a doe-eyed boy scout. While I certainly do not always disagree with many of his points about the incongruous and laughable aspects of human nature,
June 10th, 2014. Terry Lago´s rating: 3 | James Branch Cabell | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Hall of the Mountain King by Judith Tarr
Every day, for years, the King of Ianon has stood on his castle’s battlements, hoping to see his daughter coming home. He is old and she is his heir. When someone finally arrives, the king is told that his daughter is dead, but she had a son, Mirain, whose father is the god Avaryan. The grieving king opens his heart to this unknown grandson, but there are others who are not pleased with the new development — especially the king’s concubine and her son Moranden,
June 9th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Judith Tarr | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
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