C.J. Cherryh has been named a Damon Knight Grand Master by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. Previous Grand Masters include Gene Wolfe, Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. Le Guin, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, Arthur C. Clarke, Andre Norton, Jack Vance and others. The Grand Master award will be presented to Cherryh in May at the 51st SFWA Nebula Conference in Chicago.
The Builders by Daniel Polansky
I’m a huge fan of Daniel Polansky‘s LOW TOWN series, so I might have claimed that I wouldn’t have bought The Builders if he hadn’t written it, but that’s not completely honest because there is something appealing about a story that features personified animals. I’m sure I’m not the only adult man who hasn’t outgrown them.
As it turned out, this novella is one the wildest stories I’ve ever read. I can’t explain it any better than to quote what other authors and reviewers have already said:
“The Wild Bunch meets Watership Down.” ~John Hornor Jacobs
“Nobody does dark like Polansky.
March 28th, 2016. Greg Hersom and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Daniel Polansky | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Lucky Strike by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Lucky Strike collects a short story and an essay about alternate history by Kim Stanley Robinson. At the end, readers are treated to an interview with the author. It is part of a larger series of publications that highlight “outspoken authors.”
“The Lucky Strike,” the short story, is an alternate history about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this world, however, Frank January chooses to drop the bomb early so as to minimize human casualties.
March 28th, 2016. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Kim Stanley Robinson | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
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 Maya Sapiurka. Sapiurka is a graduate student in neuroscience whose main hobby is yelling excitedly about fandom on the Internet. She’s pretty sure her dissertation work isn’t going to start the zombie apocalypse, but no guarantees. You can read her science writing here and here, explore Harry Potter headcanons on her Tumblr, or follow her Twitter for the full science-fandom mash up experience.
March 25th, 2016. Kate Lechler | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 6 comments |
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
In the late 1920s, H.P. Lovecraft went to visit New York City. He was appalled — appalled! — to discover that the city, especially certain neighborhoods, was crowded with immigrants and people with dark skin. Don’t take my word for it; here are his own in a letter to his friend Clark Ashton Smith, and from a Lovecraft story:
… young loafers and herds of evil-looking foreigners that one sees everywhere in New York.
(Letter to Clark Ashton Smith)
From this tangle of material and spiritual putrescence the blasphemies of a hundred dialects assail the sky.
March 25th, 2016. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Victor Lavalle | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Sin City (Vol. 2): A Dame To Kill For by Frank Miller
Frank Miller’s SIN CITY series is famous for its hard-boiled crime noir stories, characters and black-and-white artwork. In the second volume, A Dame To Kill For, Miller gleefully tackles that most classic of noir tropes, the seductive and deadly femme fatale. Ava is her name, and when she beckons, men cannot resist. Our lead this time is Dwight McCarthy, a photographer who is trying to live a clean,
March 25th, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 3 | Frank Miller | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Gorgon directed by Terence Fisher
Just one of the pictures that Hammer Films turned out in 1964, out of an eventual eight, The Gorgon finds the famed studio dipping into the well of Greek mythology for the first time, to come up with still another solid horror entertainment. The film, besides reuniting Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (the two would ultimately appear in a whopping 22 pictures together!), also showcased the talents of director Terence Fisher, who would helm 27 films for the House of Hammer by the end of his career (including such beloved pictures as Four-Sided Triangle,
March 25th, 2016. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Clash of the Demons by Joseph Delaney
In Clash of the Demons, the sixth book in Joseph Delaney’s LAST APPRENTICE series, expect more of the same: scary creatures, dark magic, dangerous quests, captures and rescues, Tom’s insecurities, questions about whether Alice is good or evil, the Spook’s insistence that they can’t compromise with the dark, foreshadowing of war, etc.
This time, the quest is to accompany Tom’s mother to Greece where they must fight an ancient witch called Ordeen who threatens a group of monks who for years have held her at bay and protected the world from her evil.
March 24th, 2016. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Joseph Delaney | Audio, Children, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
When the First Hundred arrive on Mars, they find a beautiful red planet that’s all but untouched by humanity. What should they paint on this amazing canvas?
The question turns out to be very political, and the discussion of politics in Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars perhaps begins with ecology. The relationship between people and their environment is introduced when the Martian settlers consider whether they should change the red planet to suit human needs.
March 24th, 2016. Ryan Skardal and Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Kim Stanley Robinson | Audio, BSFA Award, Nebula Award | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls by Jane Lindskold
Originally released in 1994, Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls is Jane Lindskold‘s first published novel. She is perhaps better known for her Firekeeper books and her collaboration with Roger Zelazny, and her more recent work is considered (urban) fantasy, but this book strikes me as more of a near future science fiction novel. As in a lot of her novels, there is a strong connection between animals and people, although not quite in the way the title seems to suggest.
March 24th, 2016. Rob Weber | Jane Lindskold | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no 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!