Those Who Watch by Robert Silverberg
There is a certain aptness in the fact that I penned this review for Robert Silverberg’s Those Who Watch on January 15, 2015. That day, you see, happened to be Silverberg’s 80th birthday, so my most sincere wishes for many more happy and healthy birthdays must go out to the man who has become, over the years, my favorite sci-fi author.
These days, of course, Silverberg is one of the most honored and respected writers in his chosen genre;
January 20th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Robert Silverberg | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Grimdark Magazine seeks to fill a gap in the niche market for those who enjoy “grim stories told in a dark world by morally ambiguous protagonists,” according to the editorial in the first quarterly issue. The first issue is promising, if somewhat opaque to one who is not already immersed in this relatively new subgenre.
The first story is “Shadow Hunter: A Shadows of the Apt Story” by Adrian Tchaikovsky, set in his universe in which humanoids take on the characteristics of insects. The Wasp-kinden, for example,
January 19th, 2015. Terry Weyna | Adrian Tchaikovsky, Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
A Shrill Keening by Ronald Malfi
A Shrill Keening opens with a first person narrator telling us about the books in his hospital room, and expanding from there to tell us about the hospital’s library and librarian. It is only when he notes that the list of requested books he hands to the librarian is written in crayon that the reader realizes the nature of the hospital: it is a mental institution. But the reader must also wonder: why is a mental institution catering to a patient’s request for books by and about H.P.
January 19th, 2015. Terry Weyna´s rating: 3.5 | Ronald Malfi | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley
I have to admit, I groaned a little bit upon opening the envelope with my ARC of Brian Staveley’s The Providence of Fire. “Six hundred pages? Really, man?” might have slipped out as well. I liked the first in the series (The Emperor’s Blades) though I thought it had some flaws, giving it a solid three-star rating. But I had some serious doubts about a six-hundred page follow-up. Well,
January 19th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Brian Staveley | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Supreme Power (Vol. 1): Contact by J. Michael Straczynski
I guess you could consider J. Michael Straczynski’s Supreme Power the bastard child (or perhaps grandchild) of books like Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in which the four-colour superheroes of old get a more ‘realistic’ make-over and are shown for the dangerous psychopaths they would all-too-likely be in our world. In this case we have Marvel’s Squadron Supreme coming under the deconstructive microscope.
January 17th, 2015. Terry Lago´s rating: 3.5 | J. Michael Straczynski | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Compare two commonly-used adages: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” versus “The pen is mightier than the sword.” In your own life, which saying have you found to be truer? It’s all well and good to claim that an intangible thought, either spoken or written, is less powerful than a physical object, but one can easily come up with several examples to the contrary: Discarded treaties between the United States government and various Native American tribal peoples; Chairman Mao’s infamous little red book;
January 16th, 2015. Jana Nyman´s rating: 5 | Max Barry | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 11 comments |
The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne DuPrau
Nickie is eleven years old when her aunt Crystal takes her to Yonwood, North Carolina. Their family has inherited a mansion, Greenhaven, from Nickie’s great-grandfather, and while Nickie loves the old building, Crystal is determined to sell it and get back to Philadelphia as soon as possible.
We see the house through Nickie’s eyes, and it is full of neat things, including her great-grandfather’s journals. Nickie also finds Amanda Stokes, who had cared for Nickie’s great-grandfather but who now has nowhere else to go.
January 16th, 2015. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 2 | Jeanne DuPrau | Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Straits of Galahesh by Bradley Beaulieu
When I picked up Bradley Beaulieu’s The Straits of Galahesh, the second book in his THE LAYS OF ANUSKAYA series, it had been a while since I’d read the first book, The Winds of Khalakovo, so I was worried that I had forgotten many of the story details. But Beaulieu, in his infinite wisdom, put a summary of the first book where a prologue would be. Not only did this refresh my forgetful brain,
January 16th, 2015. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 4 | Bradley P. Beaulieu | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Welcome to Brian Staveley, who’s on a blog tour for his second book, The Providence of Fire which I am greatly enjoying at this very moment. It’s outstanding! (I loved the first book, too.) Fittingly, he’s here to talk about the challenge of writing a sequel to a successful debut, and to ask you about sequels that you’ve enjoyed. One commenter will win a copy of both The Emperor’s Blades and The Providence of Fire. You don’t want to miss these books!
Stop Pissing on the Floor;
January 15th, 2015. John Hulet | Brian Staveley | Thoughtful Thursday | 38 comments |
(Warning; May contain spoilers of the earlier book, Three.)
Before I sat down to write my review of Morningside Fall, the second book in Jay Posey’s LEGENDS OF THE DUSKWALKER series, I had to go back and re-read my review of book one, called Three. I enjoyed Three, but I had a lot of the same problems that I had with Morningside Fall,
January 15th, 2015. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Jay Posey | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
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…