The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
The Invisible Man (1897) is a story known by most people, but how many have actually read the book? It’s probably a lot darker and action-packed than you think. Also, like most of H.G. Wells’ books, it is not long and is available free as an e-book, so it’s well worth a day’s reading time.
Imagine you are an ambitious but poor young medical student named Griffin, eager to make a name for yourself and enjoy success.
April 16th, 2015. Stuart Starosta, Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | H.G. Wells | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
On this date in 1877, Milanese engineer Enrico’s Forlanini’s steam-powered helicopter hovered 40 feet in the air, for 20 seconds, from a vertical take-off. (Steam-powered!) On this same day in 1941, Igor Ivor Sikorsky took the first helicopter flight that lasted one hour. His was not steam powered.
Awards:
It is award season.
Fantasy Literature’s own Rebecca Fisher has won the 2014 Sir Julius Vogel Award for best fan writing in New Zealand. Julius Vogel was a New Zealand prime minster who also published science fiction.The award recognizes excellence in science fiction,
April 15th, 2015. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 3 comments |
The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells’ 1896 novel is dark, disturbing and thought-provoking. Coming just several decades after the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859), it tells the tale of a man named Edward Prendick who gets shipwrecked on a remote island, subsequently encountering a sinister figure named Dr. Moreau, who he discovers conducts vivisections of animals, combining various creatures to make subhuman beasts who he then loses interest in and releases to roam the island.
April 15th, 2015. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4.5 | H.G. Wells | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Philosopher’s Stone by Colin Wilson
In her article on Colin Wilson in the May 30, 2004 Observer, reporter Lynn Barber mentioned that the author, then 73, had seemingly read “every book ever written.” She also noted that Wilson claimed never to have thrown a book away, and that his home library in Cornwall contained approximately 30,000 volumes. Well, any reader who delves into the author’s 1969 offering, The Philosopher’s Stone, is not likely to dispute those statements. Though chosen for inclusion in Cawthorn &
April 15th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | Colin Wilson | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Pilgrims of Rayne by D.J. MacHale
The Pilgrims of Rayne is the eighth book in D.J. MacHale’s PENDRAGON series for young adults. I’ll assume that if you’re reading a review for book eight, you realize that I’ll probably be spoiling some of the plots of the previous books here.
Bobby has now Traveled to Saint Dane’s next stop: a tropical island paradise called Ibara. At first Ibara seems like an ideal place to live, but soon, as you expected, Bobby realizes that Ibara is at a tipping point.
April 15th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | D.J. MacHale | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
In 2013, Molly Tanzer was nominated for the Sidney J. Bounds award, selected by the British Fantasy Society, for her linked story collection A Pretty Mouth. Her short fiction has appeared in Lovecraft eZine and other horror/dark fantasy markets. Vermilion is her debut novel. Tanzer has a Master’s in Humanities from Florida State University and currently lives in Colorado. Vermilion explores the adventures of Lou Merriwether; a half-Chinese, half-English psychopomp in a Weird West unlike ones we’ve seen before.
April 14th, 2015. Marion Deeds | Molly Tanzer | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 17 comments |
I am a sucker for interstitial characters: those literary beings who work the borderlands and thresholds, guiding other characters and the reader from one state of being to another. In Vermilion, her first novel, Molly Tanzer introduces us to Lou Merriwether. Lou is half Chinese and half English; she is a female who dresses as a male and she is a psychopomp, a magical artisan whose skill is to guide spirits of the dead across the threshold into the afterlife — even if they don’t want to go.
April 14th, 2015. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Molly Tanzer | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Grace of Kings, by Ken Liu, is a book that took a good deal warming up to for me, so much so that I considered giving it up multiple times through the first few hundred pages. Seriously considered giving it up. The episodic structure, which I’m generally not a fan of just as a matter of personal taste, was off-putting and distant, while both the characters and the plot felt more than a little flat. So the idea of continuing on for another 500 and then 400 pages in the same vein was not all that enticing.
April 14th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Ken Liu | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein
The Door Into Summer (1957) is an immensely enjoyable time-travel story told effortlessly by Robert A. Heinlein long before he turned into a crotchety, soap-box ranting old crank who had a very unhealthy obsession with free love and characters going back in time to get involved with their mothers (gross!!).
So, back to this book. The Door Into Summer is the story of Daniel Davis, a hard-working engineer in 1970 who invents a wonderful robot vacuum cleaner named Hired Girl (not at all sexist,
April 14th, 2015. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Robert A. Heinlein | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
One of the best things about e-books is that many more novella-length works get stand-alone publication. You don’t have to search them out in magazines, or wait for the author to write several of them and combine them in a collection, or spend a large chunk of change for a special printing from a small press. As I’ve always thought that the novella was the form best suited for short science fiction, I’m pleased with this advance; it almost makes up for not being able to hold a real book in my hands,
April 13th, 2015. Terry Weyna´s rating: 4 | Stephen King | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Locus reports that John Marsden died early today. Marsden authored the 7 book series that started off with the novel…
Mmmmm!
I *do* have pear trees... hmmm.
There were at least 2 pear soup recipes that caught my eye!
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