When we last left Jack McDevitt’s North Dakota in 1996’s Ancient Shores, the U.S. Government had failed miserably and embarrassingly to wrest control of an alien stargate from the Spirit Lake Sioux, rightful owners of the land on which the alien artifact was found. Thunderbird, a sequel to Ancient Shores, picks up several months after the showdown, which also saw fictional poet Walter Asquith shot dead.
The world of Grand Forks,
December 8th, 2015. Jason Golomb´s rating: 3.5 | Jack McDevitt | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Zontar, The Thing From Venus directed by Larry Buchanan
The memory of Roger Corman’s lovable shlock classic It Conquered the World (just one of four pictures that Corman came out with in 1956) is pretty fresh with me, since, just four months back, I happened to see this cult item on the big screen. It was playing at NYC’s wonderful Film Forum as part of a double feature, paired with 1957’s I Was a Teenage Werewolf. Filmed on the cheap and clocking in at a scant 68 minutes, It Conquered…,
December 8th, 2015. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
When the dust rises over the desert, the villagers know that Lo-Melkhiin is coming with his guards to choose another wife. He always takes one wife from each village, or each district within a city. And she always dies.
E.K. Johnston’s A Thousand Nights is a young adult fantasy retelling of the Scheherazade framing story for One Thousand and One Nights, the famous collection of Persian, Arabic and Middle Eastern folk tales.
December 8th, 2015. Tadiana Jones and Bill Capossere | E.K. Johnston | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Would-Be Witch by Kimberly Frost
Would-Be Witch (2009) is the first book in Kimberly Frost’s SOUTHERN WITCH paranormal romance series. I picked it up because Tantor Audio has just released its sequel, Barely Bewitched, and offered to send me a copy for review. There are currently five novels in this popular series.
Tammy Jo is a fiery red-head descended from a line of witches. Tammy Jo’s magical powers never developed, so she doesn’t practice witchcraft.
December 7th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Kimberly Frost | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
This is the third book in the five-part HEROES OF OLYMPUS series by Rick Riordan, and as the title would imply, it focuses on Annabeth Chase: daughter of Athena. Though it suffers a little from middle book syndrome, with nothing started and nothing finished, Riordan makes sure that Annabeth’s quest remains the key focus of the book, letting it drive the course of the otherwise sprawling narrative.
The seven heroes of the prophecy have been assembled: Percy,
December 7th, 2015. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Rick Riordan | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Women Destroy Science Fiction! Lightspeed Magazine Special Issue: The Stories edited by Christie Yant, Robyn Lupo, Rachel Swirsky
Last June, Hugo-winning Lightspeed Magazine, which is edited by John Joseph Adams, devoted an entire issue (Women Destroy Science Fiction!, June 2014, issue #49) to female science fiction writers and editors. Under Christie Yant’s and Robyn Lupo’s editorial leadership, they accepted 11 original short science fiction stories and 15 original pieces of SF flash fiction. Rachel Swirsky chose and reprinted 5 stories previously published elsewhere.
December 4th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Amal El-Mohtar, Charlie Jane Anders, Harlan Ellison, Jonathan L. Howard, Maria Dahvana Headley, Maureen McHugh, N.K. Jemisin, Rachel Swirsky, Seanan McGuire, Tina Connolly | Audio, Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Ancient Shores by Jack McDevitt
Fort Moxie lent itself to timelessness. There were no major renovation projects, no vast cultural shifts imposed by changing technology, no influxes of strangers, no social engineering. The town and the broad prairie in which it rested were caught in a kind of time warp.
A farmer works his land in the far reaches of North Dakota — just a few miles away from the Canadian border. Something pokes from the flat lands that he calls home. He lives in a large basin of prairie-land,
December 4th, 2015. Jason Golomb´s rating: 3.5 | Jack McDevitt | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony
You know that delighted little feeling you get when a package arrives on your doorstep? And with how excited you are, you just can’t wait to unbox whatever it is? Imagine you’ve just received a mysterious package, perhaps one you’ve been anticipating for a long time. Except, you’re so thrilled that you forget to check the name on the shipping label… and when you open it up, it’s not for you… Whoops.
You see, I’d heard so many things about Piers Anthony’s XANTH series,
December 4th, 2015. Kevin Wei and Kat Hooper´s rating: 0.1, 0.5 | Piers Anthony | SFF Reviews | 19 comments |
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
A provincial Canadian town in the 1920s doesn’t automatically scream sci-fi to most readers. But that is the beauty of Margaret Atwood’s tenth novel, The Blind Assassin (2000). She weaves a sprawling, post-war tale with pulp science-fiction stories that have readers leaping between Port Ticonderoga and Planet Zycron. It doesn’t sound like it should work, but the story is only made richer by these contrasting worlds.
The novel opens with Iris Chase recalling that her sister drove a car off a bridge.
December 3rd, 2015. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 3.5 | Margaret Atwood | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
Although Don Siegel’s 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers has long been a favorite of this viewer — it is, most assuredly, one of the genuine sci-fi champs of the 1950s — it was only very recently that I finally got around to reading Jack Finney’s source novel. The occasion was Simon & Schuster’s 2015 release of the book’s 60th anniversary edition, with a most interesting foreword by author Dean Koontz. Actually, Finney’s novel had originally appeared serially in 1954 in Collier’s,
December 3rd, 2015. Sandy Ferber and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Jack Finney | Audio, Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
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,…
It's hardly a private conversation, Becky. You're welcome to add your 2 cents anytime!