Inside Straight edited by George R.R. Martin
The year 2008 saw the (second?) rebirth of the WILD CARDS series edited and co-written by George R.R. Martin. These are ‘mosaic’ novels — stories written by several authors and set in a shared universe. The first book, Wild Cards, appeared in 1987. Inside Straight (2008) is book 18. To make this 18th book a good entry point, Martin and his companions created something of a Wild Cards: the Next Generation to reboot the series.
December 12th, 2014. Rob Weber´s rating: 3.5 | Carrie Vaughn, Daniel Abraham, George R.R. Martin, Ian Tregillis, Melinda Snodgrass, S.L. Farrell | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
What is a Superhero? by Robin S. Rosenberg and Peter Coogan (editors)
What is a Superhero?, a collection of 25 essays edited by Robin S. Rosenberg and Peter Coogan, doesn’t aim to present “the” answer to this oft-asked question. Instead, it throws open to the door to an array of answers (some of which are directly contradictory) from people across a wide spectrum of fields: philosophers, psychologists, comic book creators, cultural critics, etc. If, as is almost always the case in any collection, the individual essays vary in quality of insight,
December 11th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
I was looking for nothing in particular when I found The Bone Season on the Science Fiction shelf of my local library. This was the saving grace of my reading experience of Samantha Shannon’s debut novel. It was not until after finishing the novel that I discovered the hype surrounding the first in Shannon’s planned seven-part series (of which Bloomsbury has already signed her up for three novels).
The novel centres around Paige Mahoney, a clairvoyant who can move in and out of the minds of other people.
December 11th, 2014. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 3 | Samantha Shannon | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
On this day in 1968, the famous 300 million yen robbery took place in Tokyo, Japan. It remains unsolved to this day.
Writing, Editing, and Publishing:
At Suvudu, Robert Jackson Bennett talks about the various influences (George Smiley! The Third Man! The DISCWORLD series!) on his recent novel, City of Stairs. And in *incredibly exciting news,* it looks like RJB might be writing a sequel. What!?!
Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy recently hosted an interview with Ellen Datlow,
December 10th, 2014. Kate Lechler | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |
The King’s Deryni by Katherine Kurtz
I first encountered Katherine Kurtz’s DERYNI series back in high school with Deryni Rising, the first of her more than dozen novels in the long-running series. The newest entry, The King’s Deryni, is the third in the CHILDE MORGAN sub-series, and it brings her original readers full circle, since it ends just a few years before Deryni Rising begins. As with any series of this length, the quality of each book,
December 10th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Katherine Kurtz | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Deryni Checkmate by Katherine Kurtz
Deryni Checkmate, first published in 1972, is the second novel in Katherine Kurtz’s epic fantasy series that’s set in a world called Gwynedd (loosely based our own medieval UK) where some people have inherited magic from a race called the Deryni which has interbred with normal humans. The church of Gwynedd considers magic anathema and is using its wealth, power, and influence to rid the world of Deryni magic. Thus, Kurtz’s story is clearly inspired by our own middle ages when the Roman Catholic Church dominated Western religious and political systems and,
December 10th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Katherine Kurtz | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Yellow God: An Idol of Africa by H. Rider Haggard
H. Rider Haggard’s 33rd work of fiction out of an eventual 58, The Yellow God was first published in the U.S. in November 1908, and in Britain several months later. In this one, Haggard deals with one of his favorite subjects — African adventure — but puts a fresh spin on things. Thus, instead of Natal, Zululand, the Transvaal and Egypt, where the bulk of his African tales take place, The Yellow God transpires,
December 10th, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | H. Rider Haggard | Free!, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Today we welcome Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson who are here to tell us about a newly published 700 page collection of Frank Herbert‘s stories. One commenter will win a hardback copy of this beautiful book which would make a great gift for any science fiction lover on your list.
A Journey Into the Universes of Frank Herbert
by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
A reviewer for The New York Times once quipped that Frank Herbert’s head was so overloaded with ideas that it was likely to fall off.
December 9th, 2014. Guest | Brian Herbert, Frank Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson | Giveaway! | 3 comments |
Dragon is the eighth novel in Steven Brust’s VLAD TALTOS series. As you’re reading the series, it probably doesn’t matter when you read Dragon since it’s really a stand-alone story which tells of a battle that occurred earlier in the series’ chronology, just after the events of Taltos, which was a prequel to the first three VLAD TALTOS novels. (As you can see, the books jump around in time). But Dragon is not one of the better volumes,
December 9th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Steven Brust | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Often times I want to tell an author, “You had me at structure.” Give me an atypical form — something eschewing the usual A to B to C linear plotline — and you’ve charmed me from the get-go. For instance, the linked short story form. I first fell in love with it a long, long time ago when I picked up Steinbeck’s Pastures of Heaven, and since that time the genre has given me a lot of reading joy: Dubliners,
December 9th, 2014. Bill Capossere | Beth Bernobich | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
I believe you are missing the point of this book here. I don't believe the purpose is to tell a…
I love it!
Almost as good as my friend: up-and-coming author Amber Merlini!
I don't know what kind of a writer he is, but Simon Raven got the best speculative-fiction-writing name ever!
[…] Its gotten great reviews from Publishers Weekly (starred review!), Kirkus, Locus, Booklist, Lithub, FantasyLiterature, and more. Some of whom…