The Man in the High Castle: A complex dystopian television series
Who would have thought that Philip K. Dick’s 1962 Hugo Winner about the Axis powers winning WWII would be brought to film, and not just as a single movie, but as a big-budget multi-season drama series from Amazon and produced by Ridley Scott. Stranger than fiction, as they say.
I always have two questions for film adaptations: 1) How closely does it follow the book; 2) How good is it as a stand-alone work? In this case,
January 6th, 2016. Stuart Starosta | Philip K. Dick | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Dragonfly Falling by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Between introducing the uniquely imaginative concept of ‘Insect-kinden’ and showcasing a well-rounded display of characterization, world-building, story, pacing and prose, Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Empire in Black and Gold was not only an impressive debut, it was also a memorable start to an exciting new fantasy series. A direct continuation of Empire in Black and Gold, Dragonfly Falling is basically more of the same, just on a larger and more entertaining scale.
January 6th, 2016. Robert Thompson, Justin Blazier, Terry Weyna and Kevin Wei | Adrian Tchaikovsky | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Midnight Taxi Tango by Daniel José Older
Midnight Taxi Tango, which was published today, is the second book in Daniel José Older’s BONE STREET RUMBA series. Things have changed dramatically for Carlos Delacruz, the half-alive agent of the Council of the Dead, who monitors badly-behaving ghosts and spirits in Brooklyn. Carlos has learned a bit more about his pre-death existence, and the love of his life has left him.
Carlos and his senior partner the ghost Riley are charged with investigating several strange “random” accidents at a local park,
January 5th, 2016. Marion Deeds, Jana Nyman and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Daniel José Older | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Manners & Mutiny by Gail Carriger
Manners & Mutiny is the fourth and final installment in Gail Carriger’s FINISHING SCHOOL series for teens (though as you can see from my reviews, adults will enjoy this, too!). This has been one of my favorite fantasy series in the last few years, so I’m sad to see it end. Fortunately, Carriger’s most-loved characters tend to show up in her other series, which are all set in the same supernatural England.
Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Ladies of Quality is,
January 5th, 2016. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Gail Carriger | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
I thoroughly enjoyed Ian Tregillis’ The Mechanical, the first book in his THE ALCHEMY WARS series, and I’m happy to say that book two, The Rising, continues the story in strong fashion, showing not a whit of sophomore slump.
The series is set in an alternative history world where Christiaan Huygens’ discoveries led to the Netherlands dominating the world via a mechanical army of “Clakkers.” The sole resistance is led by the French in North America’s “New France,” (old France has already been conquered) whose capital,
January 5th, 2016. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Ian Tregillis | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
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.
“Lois Lane: A Real Work of Art” by Gwenda Bond (2015, free at Amazon)
The first of two prequel stories for Gwenda Bond’s Lois Lane: Fallout, “A Real Work of Art,” is a quick story in which pre-Metropolis Lois Lane puts her investigatory skills to use at a new school.
January 4th, 2016. Jana Nyman, Kat Hooper and Tadiana Jones | Gwenda Bond, Kij Johnson, Neil Gaiman | Nebula Award, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
The Silent Warrior by L.E. Modesitt Jr
Warning: This review will contain spoilers for the previous book, Dawn for a Distant Earth.
The Silent Warrior is the second book in L.E. Modesitt Jr’s FOREVER HERO trilogy. Published in the late 1980s, this series is about a man named Gerswin who grew up in the harsh environment of the ruined Earth. He was picked up by the galactic empire, educated, and enlisted in their military.
January 4th, 2016. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | L.E. Modesitt_Jr | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Star Wars (Volume One): Skywalker Strikes by Jason Aaron (writer) and John Cassaday (artist)
Marvel now has the rights to the Star Wars comics, so they’ve been reissuing all the old Dark Horse collections and launching into several different series. In fact, there are so many new ones that I’m not even sure how they are all connected. But the two you need to know about are Star Wars (Volume One): Skywalker Strikes by Jason Aaron and Darth Vader (Volume One): Vader by Mark Waid,
January 2nd, 2016. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Welcome to another Expanded Universe column where I feature essays from authors and editors of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, as well as from established readers and reviewers. My guest today is Kelly Ann Jacobson. Jacobson is a fiction writer, poet, and editor who lives in Falls Church, Virginia. She received her MA in Fiction at Johns Hopkins University, and she now teaches as a Professor of English. She is the author of several published books, including the novel Cairo in White, and her first book of poetry, I Have Conversations with You in My Dreams,
January 1st, 2016. Kate Lechler | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 3 comments |
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
In Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood details an apocalyptic plague, introduces a new species of creatures that have been genetically designed to replace humanity, and the villain is a mad scientist in love. What could be more “SFF” than Oryx and Crake?
Quite a lot, according to Margaret Atwood, who prefers to describe her novel as “speculative fiction” rather than “science fiction.” In interviews promoting Oryx and Crake,
January 1st, 2016. Ryan Skardal, Ruth Arnell, Bill Capossere, Kat Hooper and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Margaret Atwood | Edge | SFF Reviews | 11 comments |
Kind of you to say. I certainly like to think so!
BTW, Steve Sterner will be performing at seven films during this upcoming fest: https://filmforum.org/series/clara-bow
As far as I know, Bill, Steve Sterner is the only person who does the live accompaniment to silent movies…
And I'm positive that Kaidan will fondly remember watching these movies with his old man for the rest of his…
You bet, Marion!