The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov
Re-reading a favorite book from your teenage years is always a risky endeavor. I’ve been dismayed by how often my youthful memories are tarnished by a re-read, and I end up wondering if my taste as a young adult was all in my mouth.
But I couldn’t resist trying The End of Eternity (1955) by Isaac Asimov again, partly because I remembered liking it so well as a teenager, but my memories of it were so extremely hazy (for the longest time,
March 31st, 2017. Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Isaac Asimov | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Slow River (1995) is Nicola Griffith‘s second novel and the third one by her I’ve read. Like her debut Ammonite (1992), it attracted quite a bit of attention. The novel won a Nebula Award in 1996 and has made it into the Gollancz SF Masterworks series. I enjoyed both Hild (2013) and Ammonite an awful lot so this book ended up on the to-read stack right after finishing Ammonite.
March 31st, 2017. Rob Weber | Nicola Griffith | Nebula Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence
Prince Jalan Kendeth is the black sheep of the family. A self-confessed untrustworthy scoundrel and coward who has taken every advantage of the life of luxury that comes with being royalty, he is perfectly content with his life as it is and has no plans to change or inclination for greater things. However, when he crosses paths with a courageous Viking named Snorri, Jal discovers that he may have been destined to stand against an undead evil. Snorri is returning north to rescue his family and,
March 31st, 2017. Greg Hersom and Tim Scheidler´s rating: 5 | Mark Lawrence | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Bestselling author Kazuo Ishiguro isn’t known for writing fantasy, so when his novel The Buried Giant featured, among other surprising things, ogres, it caused quite a stir. Ishiguro commented on the reaction:
“I was slightly shocked by the level of prejudice, sheer prejudice, against ogres … I couldn’t understand it. It’s just another imaginary thing, like any other imaginary thing.”
Well Mr Ishiguro, I share your perplexity. Among my friends I am the only one who openly admits to a preference for fantasy fiction.
March 30th, 2017. Katie Burton | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 41 comments |
The British Superhero by Chris Murray
One certainly cannot fault Chris Murray on his research for The British Superhero (2017), and one’s reaction to it will probably depend on just how exhaustive a look at the topic one desires. I’ll confess that at times my eyes glazed a bit at some of the summaries of the more obscure storylines, especially those that lasted only a single issue or two, but despite those occasional moments, the book is an informative exploration of an often over-looked realm of superhero comics.
March 30th, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Ace in the Hole edited by George R.R. Martin
Ace in the Hole (1990), the sixth WILD CARDS mosaic novel, is a vast improvement over the last two novels (Aces Abroad and Down and Dirty). Down and Dirty, especially, lacked cohesion due to George R.R. Martin’s lack of editorial control over his authors, something he laments in that book’s afterword. I suspect the experience was a good lesson because he’s fixed the issue in Ace in the Hole.
March 30th, 2017. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | George R.R. Martin, Melinda Snodgrass, Victor Milan, Walter Jon Williams | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Today’s word for Wednesday is the noun poltroon, meaning coward. Its origins appear to be Middle French and/or Middle Italian. It may be descended from a Middle French world for a foal or a baby animal (implying frailty and skittishness?) It first appeared about 1520. It is not to be confused to pontoon, which is a floating structure or part of a seaplane.
Awards:
This is from February: Charlie Jane Anders won the Crawford Award at this year’s International Conference for the Fantastical in the Arts (ICFA),
March 29th, 2017. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 5 comments |
Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs
It’s pirating night in the werewolf house, and Mercy, a coyote skinwalker married to Adam, the handsome Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack, quickly gets killed out of the werewolf pack’s computer-based pirate LARP game. She heads to the kitchen to make a double-quadruple batch of chocolate chip cookies for the pack (her habit of baking treats after being exiting the game having more than a little to do with why someone always kills her off early in these games). Only, there are no eggs in the house,
March 29th, 2017. Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Patricia Briggs | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon
[In our Edge of the Universe column, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.]
Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union is (breathe in) an alternate history science fiction noir police procedural that won plaudits from the literary mainstream as well as several top honors from the science fiction community (breathe out).
March 29th, 2017. Ryan Skardal, Marion Deeds and Stuart Starosta | Michael Chabon | Edge, Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 13 comments |
Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Editor’s note: Carmilla is free in Kindle format because it’s in the public domain.
Giving Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla (1872) a 4-star rating feels a bit like critiquing my cat’s life choices. Sure, she could act more like a cat, and she could definitely make more sense from time to time — but ultimately, I love her and that ought to be enough.
Carmilla truly begins when Carmilla (surprise) arrives somewhat suddenly at the summer home of Laura and her father.
March 28th, 2017. Skye Walker´s rating: 4 | Joseph Sheridan Le_Fanu | Free!, Horror, Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
so you're saying I should read it? :)
As a native New Yorker, I love the idea of the city being filled with canals and no skyscrapers! And…
How did I miss this? Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
I guess that is true, Marion. And when it comes to "You Only Live Twice," I saw the movie TWICE…
You managed to work in your two loves; vintage fiction and films!