Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
In Bone Crossed, the fourth installment in the Mercedes Thompson series, Mercy is learning to cope with her new role as the mate of the local werewolf pack while still suffering the effects of a horrific assault that occurred at the climax of Iron Kissed. Complications from inter-species conflicts remain a central theme, and her relationship challenges don’t simply fade away, but Mercy Thompson does not cry mercy.
Patricia Briggs keeps the story moving,
February 25th, 2016. John Hulet, Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Patricia Briggs | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
This week, two words for Wednesday; pahoehoe (Pah-Hoy-Hoy) and a’a (Ah-ah). These are two Hawaiian words for lava. Pahoehoe is the silken, ropy lava that looks like ribbons of fudge, and a’a is the word for clinker lava, smaller chucks riddled with air holes, the kind you see used in some landscaping. A’a must be named for the sound you make when you walked over it barefooted.
These Hawaiian nouns are used commonly by volcanologists all over the world.
Why, yes! Yes, I did go to Hawai’i on my vacation!
February 24th, 2016. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 3 comments |
Joan Haste by H. Rider Haggard
Anyone who reads H. Rider Haggard‘s 19th novel, Joan Haste, will likely be struck with one overwhelming thought: Times sure have changed for women over the last 100 years or so. Today, nothing much is thought of a woman who bears a child out of wedlock, and that illegitimate child will likely bear no stigma on his or her name in adulthood. But back in 1894, when Haggard sat down to write (or, to be strictly accurate,
February 24th, 2016. Sandy Ferber | H. Rider Haggard | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Unexpected Stories by Octavia Butler
The late Octavia Butler wrote brilliant, challenging science fiction along more or less the same lines as Ursula K. Le Guin: the speculations are often anthropological, and she’s fascinated by how people interact. I read one of her XENOGENESIS novels years ago and found it the kind of powerful, disturbing book that I can only read occasionally. I was excited to hear that a couple of her unpublished stories had been found and published under the title Unexpected Stories.
February 24th, 2016. Mike Reeves-McMillan | Octavia Butler | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
In Ancillary Justice, Leckie’s award-sweeping 2013 novel, we met Breq. Breq was a soldier, but before she was a soldier, she had been a ship, the Justice of Toren. Specifically, Breq was an ancillary, a human body whose personality has been erased, so that she could be a node of awareness for the ship’s AI. Justice of Toren comprised the ship itself and 2,000 human ancillaries in a distributed network. When Justice of Toren was destroyed in an act of treachery,
February 24th, 2016. Marion Deeds and Stuart Starosta | Ann Leckie | BSFA Award | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Gotham, Season 1
This is such a great idea for a TV series. We all know the basic story of the Batman thanks to the venerable comics franchise, Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns, and the recent Christopher Nolan DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY of films. It seems like origin stories are very trendy these days, and it’s an obvious direction to go to expand the reach of any popular franchise. But who would have thought to explore the origins of all the notorious villains of Gotham City while centering the story on rookie detective James Gordon and his cynical older partner Harvey Bullock,
February 23rd, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh
Cherryh’s The Pride of Chanur combines space opera with some gritty “hard-ish” SF elements in the beginning of a saga that deals with the political and economic ramifications of first contact. In this first volume of the CHANUR SAGA we follow the exploits of a crew of Hani (lion-like aliens) on the eponymous merchant space freighter The Pride of Chanur. Expecting nothing more than a routine run across their trade routes, Pyanfar Chanur, captain of the Pride,
February 23rd, 2016. Terry Lago´s rating: 3.5 | C.J. Cherryh | SFF Reviews | 8 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 Deepwater Bride” by Tamsyn Muir (2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine July/August 2015 issue, Kindle)
Sixteen-year-old Hester Blake is having an unconventional summer: octopodes are in the laundry, deep-sea fish keep showing up in a pond, and salty, oily rain falls from the sky. Normal people are worried about global warming, but the Blakes belong to a long line of seers and scribes,
February 22nd, 2016. Jana Nyman, Kat Hooper and Tadiana Jones | Brandon Sanderson, Ruthanna Emrys, T. Kingfisher, Tamsyn Muir | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Downfall of the Gods by K.J. Parker
Who do you fear when you’re an immortal god?
Your father seems worthy of your fear. He is older, more powerful, perhaps wiser. His wrath can make your life a living hell, and you don’t want to be the one god in your family that strays far from the godly path you’re born to follow. Your life is eternal, and that is both blessing and curse. Fortunately, there are a handful of talented human beings in every generation, and a truly wonderful musician has arisen.
February 22nd, 2016. João Eira´s rating: 5 | K.J. Parker | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Snow in Summer is Jane Yolen’s middle grade/young adult retelling of Snow White, set in the Appalachian hills of West Virginia in the 1940s. The main character is Snow in Summer, a girl named by her mother after the white Cerastium flowers that carpet their front yard. Her mother dies in childbirth when Summer is seven years old, and her father completely withdraws in his grief, neglecting Summer, who gets along with the help of her mother’s best friend Nancy.
February 22nd, 2016. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3 | Jane Yolen | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 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!