Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: November 2014


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Spera by Josh Tierney

Spera (Vol 1) by Josh Tierney and various artists

Spera by Josh Tierney is a YA fantasy work that I raved about in a Sunday Status Update about a month ago. The story is of two young girls, fleeing princesses, on the run from murderous relatives and accompanied by an Aslan-like creature made of fire. One of the princesses, Lono, is a hesitant-young lady in a dress; the other, her protector, is a bold tomboy named Pira who wields a magic sword. The graphic novel is comprised of episodic tales overall,


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Shutter by Joe Keatinge & Leila Del Duca

Shutter by Joe Keatinge (writer) and Leila Del Duca (artist)

Shutter is another fairly recent Image title that is a five-star read, and it’s further evidence that science fiction fans should keep their eyes on this publisher. Shutter opens up with a father-daughter outing . . . on the moon! After that quiet, peaceful moment, the story picks up pace in the first issue, and starting in the second, the action almost never lets up. It’s about family, growing up,


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Elephantmen: Wounded Animals by Richard Starkings & Moritat

Elephantmen (Vol 01): Wounded Animals by Richard Starkings (writer) and Moritat (artist) and other artists

Hip Flask, one of the main characters of Elephantmen, has been around for over a decade now, and the first images I saw did not immediately appeal to me. However, after reading the first issue, I realized this reaction is essential to the entire point of the series, because we are led to see how these Elephantmen, who have been terribly mistreated, continue to be discriminated against by humans. So, if you also are put off by the appearance of a humanoid hippopotamus dressed in a trench coat,


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Nobody’s Home: A prequel to The Anubis Gates

Nobody’s Home by Tim Powers

Tim Powers’ fourth novel, The Anubis Gates, was such a perfectly crafted, fully self-contained work that I doubt very much if any of his legion of fans could have reasonably expected a sequel. Released originally in 1983, the book has gone on to become a classic of sorts in both the “steampunk” and “secret histories” fantasy subgenres, deservedly earning itself both the Philip K. Dick Award and a pride of place in Jones & Newman’s Horror: 100 Best Books.


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The Paper Magician: Mildly entertaining

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

The Paper Magician, by Charlie N. Holmberg, has a nicely original premise and a unique heroic quest, but the overall impact is marred by a trite romance, a somewhat flat main character, and a sense that it all goes on a bit long.

In this world, magic users “bond” to a particular material — rubber, metal, plastic — and work with that material (and only that material) the rest of their lives. Ceony Twill has just graduated from magic college (thanks to an anonymous sponsor) and been assigned,


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Thoughtful Thursday: Books we are thankful for

Thanksgiving is day for family, football and food, but it’s also about giving thanks, for our family, our friends and for the blessings we enjoy. For this holiday edition of Thoughtful Thursday, we want to hear about books we are thankful for. Please comment on a book you are grateful you read.

I’ll start with two. I’m grateful that I got to read Louise Erdrich’s book The Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse when I did. At that time in my life, I felt betrayed by my church,


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WWWednesday: November 26, 2014

Here at FanLit, we want to wish all of our American readers (and anyone else, too!) a Happy Thanksgiving!

Writing, Editing, and Publishing:

In this Suvudu article, several SFF writers discuss writing advice they would give their younger selves.

Ursula K. LeGuin’s acceptance speech for the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters manages to fit inspiration and incisive cultural criticism into just a few paragraphs. This is one of the many reasons we love her.

Cory Doctorow talks about the way stories reach inside to push our empathy buttons,


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The Doctor and the Kid: A fun-filled romp through the Wild West

The Doctor and the Kid by Mike Resnick

The Doctor and the Kid is the second novel in Mike Resnick’s WEIRD WEST TALES. I haven’t read the first book, The Buntline Special, but I could follow the events and characters just fine. The Doctor and the Kid works well as a stand-alone, though I probably would have had more attachment to the characters and the events if I had read The Buntline Special first.


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Reserved for the Cat: A Puss in Boots story

Reserved for the Cat by Mercedes Lackey

Reserved for the Cat is the sixth stand-alone novel in Mercedes Lackey’s ELEMENTAL MASTERS series of fairytale retellings. As the title might suggest, Reserved for the Cat is a “Puss in Boots” story and it’s actually recognizable as such (unlike some of Lackey’s other retellings that go too far afield from their sources).

Ninette, our heroine, is an orphaned ballet dancer who has lots of talent but is fired from her gig with a famous Parisian ballet company after inadvertently evoking the jealousy of the company’s reigning diva.


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Flandry’s Legacy: Finishes the Technic Civilization stories

Flandry’s Legacy by Poul Anderson

Flandry’s Legacy is the conclusion to Baen’s project to publish all Anderson’s works in the Technic Civilization in chronological order. In total the series covers seven volumes and over 3,000 pages, all published between 1951 and 1985. This last volume contains two novels and four shorter pieces that cover almost four millennia in Anderson’s future history. I must admit that after reading the previous volume, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Kinight of Terra, I suffered from a bit of a Flandry overdose.


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Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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