According to Haggard Hawks, the same way a flock of crows is called a murder, the poetic term for a group of salamanders is a maelstrom. And you can find many more cool collective nouns for animal groups here.
Awards:
This year’s Tiptree Award went to Anna-Marie McLemore for When the Moon was Ours.
Independent horror publisher Word Horde had a very good day at the This is Horror awards. John Langan’s The Fisherman won for best novel,
March 22nd, 2017. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 3 comments |
The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
The Wanderers (2017), by Meg Howrey, focuses on a simulated mission (code name: Eidolon) to Mars more realistic than anything ever attempted before. Prime Space has chosen three exemplary, experienced astronauts (American Helen, Japanese Yoshi, and Russian Sergei) for a 17-month, fully immersive simulation in the Utah desert in preparation for the real thing two years later. We join the “journey” via their 3rd-person POVs, but are also given a broader view thanks to their family members (one might consider them “satellites” orbiting the main characters — always tied to them): Helen’s actress daughter Mireille,
March 22nd, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Meg Howrey | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Evil Wizard Smallbone by Delia Sherman
What is it about Maine? Stephen King and John Connolly both write terrifying horror stories set there, and Delia Sherman places The Evil Wizard Smallbone, a middle-grade fantasy published in 2016, in Maine in the winter. That state must have a lot of magical juice.
The Evil Wizard Smallbone not only shares the horror of a Maine winter, it’s got an evil wizard, shape-shifting coyote-bikers, a small and somewhat magical town called Smallbone Cove whose residents have forgotten their own strange history to their peril,
March 22nd, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Delia Sherman | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 9 comments |
Pat Frank’s Mr. Adam (1946) is billed as “[o]ne of literature’s first responses to the atomic bomb,” and the uncertainty of the freshly-minted Atomic Age is palpable within the novel’s pages. With the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still fresh in his mind, and within the minds of his readers, Frank crafted a cautionary tale regarding the dangers of nuclear power and its invisible, unstoppable effects on the future of mankind.
Steve Smith, intrepid journalist and recent veteran of the European theatre in WWII,
March 21st, 2017. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Pat Frank | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Passing Strange by Ellen Klages
Ellen Klages’ short novel Passing Strange (2017) is a beautiful, fantastical melding of history, romance, magic and revenge, set against a meticulously researched San Francisco of 1940. At just over 200 hundred pages, the story follows six women in the city, each one in some way an outcast. Add a present-day story frame that includes secret passages in Chinatown, pulp magazine covers of the 1940s, and an elaborate scam, and for many of us you have something irresistible.
I loved Passing Strange from the cover by Gregory Manchess.
March 21st, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Ellen Klages | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Our weekly exploration of free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. We’ve found some excellent stories this week!
“Probably Still the Chosen One” by Kelly Barnhill (Feb. 2017, free at Lightspeed, $3.99 Kindle magazine issue)
Eleven year old Corinna discovered a strange metal door in the cupboard under the sink of her home, which is a portal to the magical land of Nibiru, where she is hailed as their Princess, their Chosen One. After spending a year and a day in war-torn Nibiru,
March 20th, 2017. Tadiana Jones, Skye Walker and Jana Nyman | Caighlan Smith, Theodora Goss | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett
If indeed social movements occur in cycles that over time have a net result of zero, what then is the value of scientific pursuit? If humanity will inevitably revert to primitivism, of what use is maneuvering toward that fuzzy idea of ‘civilization’? Is it just to give us something to do with our time on Earth? Is it an innate, unavoidable aspect of being human we should shun? Is it just false hope? Or, is there a light at the end of the tunnel? These questions and more Leigh Brackett examines in her oft-overlooked 1955 magnum opus The Long Tomorrow.
March 20th, 2017. Jesse Hudson and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Leigh Brackett | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Magic of Blood and Sea by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Magic of Blood and Sea (2017) combines two of Cassandra Rose Clarke’s novels, The Assassin’s Curse (2012) and The Pirate’s Wish (2013), into one volume. Originally, these novels were published by Strange Chemistry, the YA branch of Angry Robot Books, but the imprint went defunct (as sometimes happens) and the publication rights to their various books were scattered to the four winds. In this particular case,
March 20th, 2017. Jana Nyman and Ruth Arnell´s rating: 4.5 | Cassandra Rose Clarke | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Greatmask (2016), the third and final book in Ashley Capes‘s BONE MASK TRILOGY successfully brings each character’s arc to a satisfying conclusion and wraps up all the disparate subplots — while still leaving room for the promise of new adventures on the horizon.
Anaskar has been invaded by the blue-cloaked Ecsoli; they now control all three tiers of the city, from the seaside docks to the lofty palace where King Oseto is held captive. Would-be rebels hide in the back alleys and taverns,
March 20th, 2017. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Ashley Capes | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The White Luck Warrior by R. Scott Bakker
If you’re reading this review, then there’s no need to go into any rigamarole about THE PRINCE OF NOTHING or THE ASPECT-EMPEROR series by R. Scott Bakker. Point blank: The White Luck Warrior (2011) superbly escalates the story begun in The Judging Eye, and indirectly so the THE PRINCE OF NOTHING series, to leave the reader on the doorstep, panting for more.
March 18th, 2017. Jesse Hudson´s rating: 3.5 | R. Scott Bakker | SFF Reviews | no comments |
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…
Gentlemen, I concur! (Forgive me for jumping into your convo)
The cover is amazing. I love how the graphic novel (and the review!) hewed close to the theme of "good…
I've thought about picking that one up. The artwork looks perfect.