The King’s Justice by Katherine Kurtz
The King’s Justice is the second book in Katherine Kurtz’s THE HISTORIES OF KING KELSON trilogy, which is part of her DERYNI CHRONICLES. It’s the fifth book about young King Kelson. You really ought to read the books in this order: Deryni Rising, Deryni Checkmate, High Deryni, The Bishop’s Heir and THEN this book, The King’s Justice.
March 10th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Katherine Kurtz | Audio | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
In Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s debut novel Signal to Noise, the 1980s are almost over, and Meche is a teenager in Mexico City doing all those random stupid teenager things we all did back then: listening to music all night, riding around on the back of friends’ motorcycles, and casting magic spells in dilapidated factories.
Meche’s dad is trying to make a living as a musician, which in practice works out to spending too much time in bars and not enough time with his family.
March 10th, 2015. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3.5 | Silvia Moreno-Garcia | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
K.J. Kabza opens Issue 168 with “Steady on Her Feet,” in which two men who purport to be physicians advertise that they are able to provide a surgical augmentation of one’s character. Holliday, a poor child, is induced to enter their shop by a shop boy who promises a free consultation, though Dr. Mortleaus isn’t too keen on helping a mudlarker — one of those who makes a living pulling valuable materials the river leaves behind when the tide goes out. But his partner, Dr. Svartlebarrt, persuades him to examine Holliday, and what they find surprises them: she is of excellent character,
March 9th, 2015. Terry Weyna | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Unbreakable is the debut novel from W.C. Bauers and the first book in THE CHRONICLES OF PROMISE PAEN, billed as a blend of hard military sci-fi (in the vein of Starship Troopers) and the Wild West-like sensibilities of the television series Firefly. While the novel does contain those elements, focusing on them alone does a disservice to Bauer’s incorporation of real and imagined military history and his skillful portrayal of the marines who serve the interests of the Republic of Aligned Worlds.
March 9th, 2015. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3 | W.C. Bauers | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Much has been written about Alfred Bester’s classic 1956 SF novel The Stars My Destination (Tiger! Tiger! in the United Kingdom). According to Wikipedia, it is considered one of the best SF books of all time by many authors such as Neil Gaiman, Joe Haldeman, Samuel. R. Delany, Robert Silverberg, and William Gibson.
Predating cyberpunk by almost three decades (if you count from Gibson’s Neuromancer in 1984),
March 9th, 2015. Stuart Starosta and Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Alfred Bester | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Way of the Spirit by H. Rider Haggard
Even in the modern-day 21st century, it can be a difficult situation for a husband to be in love with a woman who just happens not to be his wife. For the Victorian/Edwardian gentleman, however, especially for one of a highly moral and religious bent, the situation must have been even harder, particularly if that man were a well-known and highly respected public figure. And yet, that is exactly the lot that befell renowned British author H. Rider Haggard. I am only familiar with the bald outlines of the case (after having just completed my 42nd Haggard novel,
March 9th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | H. Rider Haggard | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature by C.S. Lewis
To me, this might be C.S. Lewis‘ best book. I will have to cop to not really liking the NARNIA books (too allegorical, and those British schoolchildren are pretty annoying), and while I do quite like his SPACE TRILOGY, I think that Lewis was much better as a writer of academic non-fiction than he was as a fiction writer. In The Discarded Image, Lewis is able to tackle a huge subject: medieval cosmology and worldview,
March 9th, 2015. Terry Lago´s rating: 5 | C.S. Lewis | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Trees by Warren Ellis and Jason Howard
Trees, a new comic by Warren Ellis and Jason Howard, has a great premise at is core. A decade ago, giant “Trees” (huge cylinders) landed in various spots on the Earth and then, well, stayed there. No aliens crawled out, no release of terraforming gas, no giant signals trying to communicate with the whales. They landed ten years ago and remain as mysterious now as when they arrived. But in the shadow of the trees, nothing is the same,
March 7th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Warren Ellis | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Forgotten Sisters by Shannon Hale
I just adore Shannon Hale’s PRINCESS ACADEMY books for young readers. The Forgotten Sisters, released earlier this week, is the third and final installment. This review will contain spoilers for the previous books.
In book one, Princess Academy, the first school was built in Mount Eskel, an uneducated rural mining community. The purpose of the school was to educate marriageable young ladies so that the prince of their realm could choose a fitting bride.
March 6th, 2015. Kat Hooper and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4.5 | Shannon Hale | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Empire by John Connolly & Jennifer Ridyard
(Warning, may contain spoilers for Conquest.)
Empire, by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard, is filled with action, suspense, and characters we care about. It is YA but adults will enjoy it.
In Conquest, the first book of THE CHRONICLES OF THE INVADERS, Earth had been conquered by a technologically superior race, the Illyri. Syl, a young woman, was the first Illyrian born on Earth.
March 6th, 2015. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | John Connolly | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…