Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: February 2017

All Our Wrong Todays: Struggling to get back to my future

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai

Tom Barren lives in a near-utopian version of our world in 2016, the world that Disney and science fiction optimistically imagined in the 1950s that we would one day have, complete with flying cars, ray guns, space vacations, and other Amazing Stories and Jetson-like technology. There’s a single compelling reason for this: in 1965, a man named Lionel Goettreider invented an engine that produced unlimited clean energy, in the process giving himself a fatal dose of radiation, but also becoming a historic figure on the level of Albert Einstein or Sir Isaac Newton.

The Found and the Lost: Masterful stories by one of the genre’s greats

The Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Found and the Lost is the companion volume to The Unreal and the Real: The Selected Short Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin, a hefty 816-page book or 34-hour audiobook collection of Ursula K. Le Guin’s novellas. It contains most of the stories that make up Four Ways to Forgiveness (1995) a set of linked stories in her HAINISH CYCLE about the two worlds of Werel and Yeowe,

WWWednesday: February 8, 2017

This week’s word for Wednesday is a noun, xenodochium. It means is a hostel or guest-house, or anywhere where strangers are made welcome.

Books and Writing

Sarah Beth Durst posted a little bit about the sequel to The Queen of Blood on her spiffy redesigned website. http://www.sarahbethdurst.com/ReluctantQueen.htm

Atlas Obscura introduces us to Marie Duval, a 19th century animator who was overlooked by history. Thanks to File 770.

BBC Radio 4 introduces a series of 15-minute radio stories based on Isaac Asimov’s I,

February 8th, 2017. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 4 comments |

To Green Angel Tower: Too long, but an exciting finale

To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams

Note: This review will contain spoilers for the previous books.

To Green Angel Tower (1993) is the third book in Tad Williams’ MEMORY, SORROW & THORN trilogy, following The Dragonbone Chair and The Stone of Farewell. This is an extremely popular trilogy, which is why the arrival of a fourth book published a few weeks ago (23 years after To Green Angel Tower was published!) is such a noteworthy event in the fantasy community.

Empress of a Thousand Skies: Propulsive plot but a few too many issues

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza is a YA space opera that feels a bit like old-time science fiction with a modern sensibility, in that characterization takes a back seat to a plot that can’t really be examined too closely, but those relatively flat characters are a nicely diverse mix in terms of gender and color. Sometimes such a propulsive plot can compensate for, or at least ameliorate somewhat, flat characters, but the plot also had its issues,

The Burning Page: Lots of action but didn’t quite satisfy

The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman

The Burning Page (2016) is the third book in Genevieve Cogman’s THE INVISIBLE LIBRARY series, and it’s safe to say that a lot goes on in this book. I enjoyed it in the moment, but I was left unsatisfied on a couple of points. Even though there is a lot of activity in the book, I have to say that, for me, this was the least successful entry in this fun series so far.

Please note that on Amazon and other sites,

February 7th, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Genevieve Cogman | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

SHORTS: Kusano, Swanwick, Howard, Tanzer

Our weekly sampling of free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are some of the stories that caught our attention this week.

“Next Station, Shibuya” by Iori Kusano (Jan. 2017, free at Apex, $2.99 Kindle magazine issue)

A poetic little story (under 4000 words) narrated by a city (or perhaps a city’s local spirit/deity) in second-person address toward Nagiko, a resident in whom the city has taken a particular interest. I really liked the small details by which the city shows its love of Nagiko:

As you walked home from the station I made sure every streetlight above you was lit … There is always enough space for you at the standing noodle counters and a sweet head of foam on your nama-beer.

Six Wakes: A labyrinthine whodunit

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

It may be obvious from reading some of my previous reviews that I really enjoy books in which authors successfully blend elements of detective fiction into their speculative fiction. Six Wakes (2017), by Mur Lafferty, folds the concept of a locked-room mystery into a generation-ship tale, much to my delight.

Six Wakes begins when Maria Arena, a clone, comes to consciousness in the cloning bay of the Dormire and discovers that the exterior of her clone-vat is smeared with blood.

The Stone of Farewell: A long rambling middle book

The Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams

Twenty-five years ago I read Tad Williams’ MEMORY, SORROW & THORN trilogy and since that time I’ve considered it one of my favorite fantasy epics. For years I’ve been planning to re-read it when an audio version was published and that happened recently, so here I am. A few weeks ago I reviewed the first book, The Dragonbone Chair, which you need to read before picking up this second book, The Stone of Farewell (1990).

With Blood Upon the Sand: Draws one deeper into an already good story

With Blood Upon the Sand by Bradley P. Beaulieu

With Blood Upon the Sand (2017) is the second in Bradley P. Beaulieu’s THE SONG OF THE SHATTERED SANDS series, following up on the excellent Twelve Kings in Sharakhai. The sequel didn’t grab me quite as fully as its predecessor, but it’s quite nearly as good and certainly has me eager to continue reading the series.

So as to avoid spoilers for the first book,

February 3rd, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Bradley P. Beaulieu | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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