The Simulacra by Philip K. Dick
Fueled by prescription amphetamines, and in a burst of creative effort rarely seen before or since in the sci-fi field, cult author Philip K. Dick, in the period 1963 – ‘64, wrote no less than six full-length novels. His 13th since 1955, The Simulacra, was originally released as an Ace paperback in 1964 with a cover price of 40 cents. The book, written in Dick’s best middle-period style, gives us a pretty whacky look at life in the mid-21st century.
November 6th, 2015. Sandy Ferber and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5, 4 | Philip K. Dick | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
How the Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman
Fans of Neverwhere, rejoice. The Marquis of Carabas has returned and is as slippery and smooth-talking as ever. Neil Gaiman takes readers into London Below once more as the Marquis embarks upon an adventure to retrieve his stolen coat. Despite being much smaller in scope and scale than Neverwhere, it is impossible not to be immersed in Gaiman’s fantastical world.
The Marquis has lost his coat.
November 5th, 2015. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 4 | Neil Gaiman | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Rising Tide is Rajan Khanna’s sequel to his post-apocalyptic novel Falling Skies. Rising Tide follows Ben Gold, airship pilot and one-time scavenger, after the Sick, an engineered virus, has turned humans into living zombies called the Feral. Society and government has collapsed, and people like Ben exist mostly by being loners, but Ben made a connection with an island colony and that changed everything for him.
Rising Tide opens with Ben and his scientist partner Miranda being held captive by Malik on his repurposed battleship.
November 5th, 2015. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Rajan Khanna | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks
In May 1895, Elsbeth Grundy, a crotchety widow living in a cabin on the Kansas plains, sees a purple and gold-painted Victorian home that has unexpectedly appeared in her wheat fields. Elsbeth determinedly stalks over to the home to demand an explanation of this irksome addition to her back forty, but every time she goes to knock on the door, she’s immediately displaced back to the gate around the home. Incensed, she leaves a letter in the mailbox, threatening to use her shotgun to deal with this unwanted trespass.
November 5th, 2015. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3 | Scott Wilbanks | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
This week’s word for Wednesday is “seneschal”, a noun, that means steward or major domo. The term usually related to medieval manors, and comes from Middle English or Frankish; combining words for “senior” and “servant.”
Awards
From Locus, the list of winners of the Canopus Award, which is given for works that have interstellar travel or planetary exploration as a prominent part of the story. The winners were announced on October 30 in Santa Clara, CA. Winners include InterstellarNet; Enigma by Ed Lerner and “The Waves” by Ken Liu.
November 4th, 2015. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 5 comments |
Stories of supernaturally-afflicted hotels are easy to find, but can be hard to get right. Characters first must be brought to the hotel, enticed to stay, and then convinced to linger even when presented with evidence that they should run for the hills. Suzanne Young takes a stab at the “haunted hotel” novel with Hotel Ruby, a mostly successful YA romance-horror mash-up with really enjoyable elements of surprise.
After their mother’s sudden and unexpected death, Audrey Casella and her older brother Daniel are being relocated from Arizona to Nevada,
November 4th, 2015. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Suzanne Young | Horror, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell
I’ve been enjoying the audio versions, read by Xe Sands, of Juliet Blackwell’s WITCHCRAFT MYSTERIES series, so I thought I’d give the audio versions (also read by Xe Sands) of Blackwell’s HAUNTED HOME RENOVATION MYSTERIES a try. These are also paranormal cozy mysteries which take place in San Francisco and which feature a slightly socially awkward independent woman running her own business.
In If Walls Could Talk, the first HAUNTED HOME RENOVATION book,
November 4th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Juliet Blackwell | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Although it took a good two-thirds of the novel for me to decide, I’ve come to the conclusion that I really enjoyed this multiple award-winning book by Connie Willis. At its core, Doomsday Book is sci-fi time travel, but it’s got depth and intelligence, and leaves little wonder that it won both the Nebula and Hugo Awards for Best Novel (in 1992 and ’93, respectively), as well as the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1993,
November 4th, 2015. Jason Golomb´s rating: 4 | Connie Willis | Hugo Award, Locus Award, Mythopoeic Award, Nebula Award | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Today, Bill and Jana chat with Bradley P. Beaulieu, whose most recent novel — Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, from DAW Books — is a richly detailed epic fantasy set in a bustling desert city. We discuss story structure, the difficulties in thinking outside genre molds, and literary influences. One lucky commenter will win their choice of a book from our stacks or a Fantasy Literature t-shirt!
Bill Capossere: Can you talk about your decisions regarding structure — the use of flashbacks,
November 3rd, 2015. Jana Nyman and Bill Capossere | Bradley P. Beaulieu | Author Interviews | 14 comments |
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind, translated into English by John E. Woods
If you are anything like me, then Perfume: The Story of a Murderer will prove a most tantalising title. And, if you are anything like me, you will not be disappointed upon delving inside. This is a story of human nature at its most despicable and scent at its most sublime, a heady combination of depravity and olfactory beauty.
Published in 1985, Perfume fast became a best-seller in Patrick Suskind’s native German.
November 3rd, 2015. Katie Burton´s rating: 4.5 | Patrick Suskind | Horror, Stand-Alone, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | 7 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,…