The Barsoom Project by Larry Niven & Steven Barnes
I’ve never read anything by Larry Niven or Steven Barnes before, and after reading The Barsoom Project, I’m wondering why. While there were parts that didn’t completely connect with me, the writing was great and the story was interesting enough to hook me almost right away. Though I haven’t read Dream Park, the first book in the DREAM PARK series, I did not feel that my interest and understanding of this,
November 30th, 2015. Sarah Chorn | Larry Niven | SFF Reviews | no comments |
There is so much free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet these days. Here are a few stories we read this week that we wanted you to know about.
The Case of the Little Bloody Slipper by Carlie St. George (2015, free at The Book Smugglers)
Jimmy Prince is a private investigator in Spindle City, a rough town with a thin veneer of civility and populated by spins on familiar fairy-tale tropes. If you’re looking for a fancy dress or some rented companionship,
November 30th, 2015. Jana Nyman, Bill Capossere, Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper | H.P. Lovecraft, Vivian Vande-Velde | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Night of the Soul Stealer by Joseph Delaney
Night of the Soul Stealer, the third book in Joseph Delaney’s LAST APPRENTICE (or WARDSTONE CHRONICLES) series is another intense scary story for children. Fans of the first two books, Revenge of the Witch and Curse of the Bane, which readers should finish first, will be pleased. I’m listening to Christopher Evan narrate HarperAudio’s version of the series.
The weather is getting colder,
November 30th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Joseph Delaney | Audio, Children, Horror | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick by Philip K. Dick
I’ve been reading a lot of Philip K. Dick the last two years: 10 novels, 7 audiobooks, and now three short story collections. The more I read, the more I’m drawn to his hard-luck life story and strange religious experiences in the 1970s. In particular, his VALIS trilogy was probably the strangest SF exploration of suffering and salvation I’ve ever read. The only books left to read are two biographies and his 944-page Exegesis of personal writings.
November 30th, 2015. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
I may have to give up my long-held identity as someone who doesn’t enjoy reading horror, because I have really enjoyed some horror novels lately. David Mitchell’s latest, Slade House, is a sort of haunted house-slash-mystery story told over several decades, in several different voices, and it was delightful.
The book begins with a young boy, Nathan, who visits a house down narrow, twisting Slade Alley with his mother. The gate is set in the wall of the alley,
November 30th, 2015. Kate Lechler, Bill Capossere, Tadiana Jones and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4, 4.5 | David Mitchell | Horror | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
The Walking Dead, Volume 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman & Tony Moore
In his introduction to The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman explains that the best zombie stories feature waves of blood but also come with strong undercurrents of social commentary. If the back of this graphic novel is to be believed, Kirkman will explore how “in a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally start living.”
Kirkman mentions George Romero’s zombie movies in his introduction, but his take on the zombie is more than homage to Romero’s movies.
November 28th, 2015. Ryan Skardal and Skye Walker´s rating: 4 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Hunt for Vulcan: How Albert Einstein Destroyed a Planet, Discovered Relativity, and Deciphered the Universe by Thomas Levenson
With recently-demoted-from-the-planetary-ranks Pluto in the news lately thanks to the New Horizons probe, it’s a good time to recall when the solar system, rather than shrinking, used to be larger by one planet. That would be the planet Vulcan, which for decades was listed as lying just inside the orbit of Mercury. Why did people think Vulcan existed? More interestingly perhaps, why did so many people think they actually saw it?
November 27th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Philosopher Kings by Jo Walton
My jaw remained open whilst I read the last pages of Jo Walton’s The Just City, and for a little while afterwards. Released earlier this year, Walton’s first novel in a new trilogy saw the start of a story whose foundational ideas are so wild, so daring, that only an author with the fullest grasp of her talent could even think of trying to wrestle with them, let alone to actually subdue and then use them to write an engaging story.
November 27th, 2015. João Eira´s rating: 4.5 | Jo Walton | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The People of the Mist by H. Rider Haggard
Sir Henry Rider Haggard, the so-called “Father of the Lost Race Novel,” didn’t write such stories featuring only Allan Quatermain and Ayesha, She Who Must Be Obeyed. For example, his 17th novel, The People of the Mist (1894), is a smashing, wonderfully exciting, stand-alone lost-race tale featuring all-new characters. But the first third of the novel is hardly a lost-race story at all, but rather one of hard-bitten African adventure.
In it,
November 27th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | H. Rider Haggard | Free!, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
To all our American readers: Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it invites us to take stock, to reflect, and to be grateful. As a big fan of SFF, I’ve had a great deal to be thankful this year, including new novels by Robert Charles Wilson, China Miéville, and Neal Stephenson. However, perhaps this year will be remembered as a great year for SFF films, including Mad Max: Fury Road,
November 26th, 2015. Ryan Skardal | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 19 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,…