Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: May 2015

Welcome to the Expanded Universe

Greetings, FanLit readers, friends, and potential contributors! We’re launching a new column, Expanded Universe, curated by me, for feature essays that discuss any aspect of speculative fiction.

How do we define the term “speculative fiction”? Well, that’s one thing that this column will end up addressing: given that all fiction exists in the realm of the imagination, what makes some fiction “speculative” and other fiction not? And where do we draw the boundaries within the term for genres like science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, New Weird, slipstream, horror… you get the drift.

May 22nd, 2015. Kate Lechler | Expanded Universe | 3 comments |

Undercity: An underground society with real-world social concerns

Undercity by Catherine Asaro

I’m a sucker for stories that take place underground, so when I saw the cover and title of Catherine Asaro’s new book, Undercity, I knew I had to break my commitment to not start a new series until I’d finished all the other ones first. (For the last seven months I’ve read only books that continue or finish a series I’ve previously started.)

When she was an orphaned child, Major Bhaajan used to live in the dark dirty tunnels under the city of Cries.

Solaris: An alien sentient ocean

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

Solaris is an amazing little novel with a colorful history. First written in 1961 by Stanislaw Lem in Polish, it was then made into a two-part Russian TV series in 1968, before being made into a feature film by famous Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972. It only reached English publication in 1970 in a Polish-to-French-to-English translation. And just when you thought it had faded from attention, both James Cameron and Steven Soderbergh expressed interest in doing a remake, with Soderbergh getting the nod in 2002 because Cameron was busy with other movies.

Rename this horrible cover!

It’s time again for one of our favorite games!

Please help us rename the horrible cover of this book by Grande Dame Andre Norton.

The author of the new title we like best wins a book from the FanLit Stacks.

Got a suggestion for a horrible cover that needs renaming? Please send it to Kat.

We love this game!

NEXT WEEK’s Thoughtful Thursday column: We’ll be giving away all of the Nebula and Hugo nominated novels to one lucky winner!

May 21st, 2015. FanLit | Andre Norton | Thoughtful Thursday | 18 comments |

Uprooted: Utterly satisfying and enthralling

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Agniezska is the brave, stubborn, sensitive heroine of Naomi Novik’s recent release, Uprooted — and she’s about to steal your heart. She comes from Dvernik, a remote village on the edges of the enchanted Wood, the dark forest that creeps like a blight over interior Polnya. The only thing holding the Wood back from engulfing the land is the Dragon, a feared sorcerer who lives nearby. For his work keeping the danger at bay, every ten years the Dragon demands one young woman from the village.

James and the Giant Peach: Not for kiddies only

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Perhaps I should confess right up front that this review of what is popularly regarded solely as a children’s book is being written by a 50+-year-old male “adult” who hadn’t read a kids’ book in many years. For me, Welsh author Roald Dahl had long been the guy who scripted one of my favorite James Bond movies, 1967’s You Only Live Twice, and who was married for 30 years to the great actress Patricia Neal. Recently, though, in need of some “mental palate cleansing”

WWWednesday: May 20, 2015

Giveaway News: As part of our Thoughtful Thursday column for May 28, we will give one lucky commenter a complete set of the novels nominated for the Hugos and the Nebulas.That’s eight books!

Books and Publishing:

Damien Walters’s essay in the Guardian discusses the multi-volume fantasy novel, which he terms a “mega-novel.” He questions whether every gifted writer can write one, and whether they should even try.

Here is an enjoyable six-minute Ted Talk by Alex Gendler, in which he explains the historical feud between the Yorks and the Lancasters.

May 20th, 2015. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 5 comments |

Leviathan: What Would Jack Do?

Leviathan by Jack Campbell

Leviathan is the most recent book in Jack Campbell’s LOST FLEET: BEYOND THE FRONTIER series. It wouldn’t make any sense to read Leviathan before reading the ten books that precede it. This review will contain spoilers for the previous books, but not for Leviathan.

At the end of Steadfast, Admiral Blackjack Geary’s fleet had been escorting their new alien friends back to the hypernet gate to their own star system when they discovered a fleet of invisible ships laying waste to a nearby planet.

The Pilgrims and Shadow: A solid opener followed by a more flat and meandering bridge book

The Pilgrims and Shadow by Will Elliott

The Pilgrims and Shadow by Will Elliott are the first two books of the PENDULUM TRILOGY. I read The Pilgrims while on a long trip last year, and so never wrote up a review (camping and hiking not being conducive to such activity). Which means this dual review will focus heavily detail-wise on Shadow while making reference to the first book based on some fuzzy recollection,

May 20th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Will Elliott | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Jana Chats with Gwenda Bond

Today, Gwenda Bond stops by FanLit to chat about her newest novel, Lois Lane: Fallout, which I thought was both a fantastic story and a refreshing take on some old YA stereotypes. She was kind enough to answer some questions I had about the book and her writing process, and one lucky U.S.-based commenter will win a copy of Lois Lane: Fallout!

Jana Nyman: The narrative of Lois Lane: Fallout is told strictly from Lois Lane’s perspective.

May 19th, 2015. Jana Nyman | Gwenda Bond | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 5 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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