Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
[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.]
Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is about clones, but don’t get your hopes up. This is an unconventional clone story.
That’s right. There aren’t any mad scientists, nor are there any daring escapes.
March 14th, 2017. Ryan Skardal and Ray McKenzie´s rating: 2 | Kazuo Ishiguro | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Black City Demon by Richard A. Knaak
Black City Demon (2017) is the second BLACK CITY SAINT adventure of 1930s ghost-hunter Nick Medea, who is really Georgius, or Saint George, and who is sixteen hundred years old. Currently living in Chicago, Nick, who is also the guardian of the Gate between our realm and Faerie, combats human evil and the worst of the Faerie influences that come through the Gate. He has very few people he considers friends, but several allies he can’t completely trust… and a strong,
March 13th, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Richard A. Knaak | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ursula Le Guin’s The Word for World is Forest (1976) is a (novella extended into a) novel that features an alien planet invaded by humanity and exploited for its resources, the natives forced into labor. An open allegory regarding the United States’ involvement in Vietnam, it is a compact novel that remains focused on three main points throughout: corporate/political greed, respect for traditional cultures, and the need to find reconciliation between the two. Elizabeth Bear’s 2007 Undertow is precisely the same story,
March 11th, 2017. Jesse Hudson´s rating: 3 | Elizabeth Bear | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Another Castle: Grimoire Written by Andrew Wheeler, Illustrated by Paulina Ganucheau, Lettered by Jenny Vy Tran
Another Castle: Grimoire is a solid enough graphic story, better suited for younger readers than older ones due to its relatively simple story and characterization, though even aimed at that audience I would have liked to have seen a bit more depth and writing craft.
The story follows the adventures of Princess Misty, daughter to the king of Beldora and, like many a princess in the old stories,
March 11th, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
In Mark Lawrence‘s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off, ten SFF review blogs joined forces to read 300 self-published fantasy novels. Each blog read ten books and chose one to advance to the top ten. The book that we advanced was Kaitlyn Davis‘s The Shadow Soul (here’s our review) and we gave it a score of 5 out of 10 on Lawrence’s scale. We are currently reading the remaining top ten SPFBO books. Here is our review of four of them. We’ll get the last five books done soon.
March 10th, 2017. Bill Capossere, Kat Hooper and Tadiana Jones | SPFBO | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Once upon a time fairytale retellings were a rare thing, but nowadays, everyone seems to be doing it. S. Jae-Jones‘ debut, Wintersong (2017), promises a tale of the Goblin King fused with Germanic folklore. So how does Jae-Jones‘ contribution to this over-saturated genre fare?
Wintersong centres around Elisabeth — or Liesl, as she’s known — the unremarkable and “unlovely” eldest daughter of a musician. Like her father, music is the true love of her life,
March 10th, 2017. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 3 | S. Jae-Jones | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Time for another “Rename This Horrible Cover” contest!
Please help us rename this atrocious-looking science fiction novel by Michael Moorcock.
(We love Moorcock’s Eternal Champion stories but, sadly, this is the second Moorcock cover we’ve been forced to feature in this column).
The creator of the title we like best wins a book from our stacks.
Got a suggestion for a horrible cover that needs renaming? Please send it to Kat.
We love this game!
March 9th, 2017. FanLit | Michael Moorcock | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 19 comments |
Lou Anders concludes his THRONES & BONES trilogy for middle graders with Skyborn, which follows Frostborn and Nightborn.
Skyborn begins as our three young heroes have just lost one of the Horns of Osius which are able to control wyverns and dragons. To free these creatures from the empire that controls them, they must travel to Thica to find and destroy the horn.
March 9th, 2017. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Lou Anders | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In A Criminal Magic, Lee Kelly creates a world in which the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1919, banned sorcery rather than alcohol. Kelly combines remarkable creativity, imagination, and insight into the human condition, blending fantasy with history and ending up with a complex, entertaining, compelling novel.
Naturally, the passage of A Criminal Magic’s fictional amendment results in the same response as its historical analogue: sorcerers are thrust into the criminal underworld,
March 9th, 2017. Jana Nyman and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3, 5 | Lee Kelly | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino
Along with his brilliant Invisible Cities (1972 in Italian, 1974 in English), one of Italo Calvino’s most enduring creations was his series of whimsical and erudite stories inspired by the origins of the universe and scientific principles, labeled Cosmicomics (1965 in Italian, 1968 in English). They are narrated by a mysterious being called Qfwfq, who tells of the Big Bang and the time before that when the universe was a single point without space or dimensions.
March 8th, 2017. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Italo Calvino | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
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!