The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams
Tad Williams’ long-awaited return to Osten Ard began with the tasty appetizer that was The Heart of What Was Lost, a bridge novella between the old series and the new. Now the first course of the main feast is here — The Witchwood Crown (2017) — and to be honest, I sort of want to order more appetizer.
Before I get into my reasons for being underwhelmed by The Witchwood Crown,
June 30th, 2017. Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Tad Williams | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Pebble In The Sky by Isaac Asimov
In a now-famous interview, sci-fi legend Isaac Asimov once revealed how he avoided getting stuck with writer’s block. The hugely prodigious author would often be working at four or five books at the same time, with five typewriters arrayed side by side, and when he would get inextricably bogged down with one book, he’d simply move to the neighboring typewriter, and recommence work on that one! Thus, one can almost understand how it was possible for Asimov — who claimed, in his later years,
June 29th, 2017. Sandy Ferber, Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Isaac Asimov | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody
Elspeth has dreams that come true. She can read thoughts, even the thoughts of animals, especially the strange cat Maruman. These gifts make her a Misfit, marked for death in her world.
Isobelle Carmody’s post-apocalyptic fantasy Obernewtyn, published in 1987, follows Elspeth from the “orphanage farm,” where she and her brother Jes were sent after the execution of their parents for sedition, to the strange mountain compound of Obernewtyn, a place of mystery, power and great danger.
In this world a strict government and a stricter religious order called The Herders control the population after a catastrophe,
June 29th, 2017. Marion Deeds and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Isobelle Carmody | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Today’s word for Wednesday is the noun doggindales, which means the patches of mist on a hillside. Once again we have the Scots to thank for this lovely evocative word. It appears to have come into use around 1866.
Awards:
The Locus Awards were announced last weekend. Winners include Death’s End by Cixin Liu (Best SF Novel); All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (best fantasy novel) and The Fireman by Joe Hill (best horror novel.
June 28th, 2017. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 4 comments |
Winter Be My Shield by Jo Spurrier
Winter Be My Shield, by Jo Spurrier, was nominated for an Aurealis Award for best fantasy novel in 2012, in her home country of Australia, and Spurrier herself was nominated for a Ditmar. While the roughly 30 reviews on Amazon are mixed, there are plenty of enthusiastic 5-star ones. All of this is to say that many people like this book more than I do. You’ve read my reviews, you know my taste, so be guided by that.
June 28th, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Jo Spurrier | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Full Blooded by Amanda Carlson
When I really need a mental vacation, I turn to romantic urban fantasy for a light, fun read. Full Blooded (2012), by Amanda Carlson, was just what I was looking for when I was going through a stressful time. It’s the first in Carlson’s JESSICA MCCLAIN werewolf series.
Full Blooded introduces us to our protagonist, Jessica, who wakes up in the middle of a change she shouldn’t be having, as women have never been able to change into werewolves before.
June 28th, 2017. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 3 | Amanda Carlson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Mad About Men directed by Ralph Thomas
When we last saw the mermaid Miranda, in the 1948 British fantasy film that bears her name, she was sitting on a rock in the middle of the ocean, bearing on her lap an infant merbaby, the sight of which was apparently meant to stun and amuse the viewer. Although the charming Miranda had almost caused the breakup of no fewer than three relationships in that film, she had not been intimate with any of the men involved (and really, how COULD she be?),
June 28th, 2017. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Daryl Gregory won the Crawford Award in 2009 for his first novel Pandemonium. His 2014 novella “We Are All Completely Fine” won the World Fantasy Award and the Shirley Jackson Award in 2015. His other novels include The Devil’s Alphabet, Afterparty (which we loved), and his YA Lovecraftian novel Harrison Squared. Gregory has also written many short works, graphic novels, and has written for television.
Born and raised in Chicago,
June 27th, 2017. Marion Deeds | Daryl Gregory | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 35 comments |
An Augmented Fourth by Tony McMillen
Tony McMillen’s An Augmented Fourth (2017) is heavy metal rock and roll horror at its wailing-guitar best. Set in 1980, the point of transition from heavy metal to punk, An Augmented Fourth blends inter-dimensional eldritch horror, David-Cronenberg-movie grotesquerie, and psychedelia in a thrash-metal twenty-minute-guitar-solo of a story.
It’s December, 1980, and Codger Burton, bassist and lyricist of the UK’s once-premiere heavy metal band, Frivolous Black, wakes up in a Boston hotel to find the city snowed in.
June 27th, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Tony McMillen | Horror | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Empire of Dust by Jacey Bedford
I’m a huge sucker for science fiction books that toy with the mixing and merging of society and advanced technology. Just how would said technology impact people, morality, society and the like? It’s a fascinating moral gray area that leaves so much for authors to explore. Add in some additional mental abilities — like the ability to talk to animals, and to communicate with other people mentally across millions of miles — and you have something quite interesting.
Empire of Dust (2014) by Jacey Bedford has all of the elements of a good science fiction debut.
June 27th, 2017. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 3 | Jacey Bedford | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…
this sounds like a fun one
These weird westerns are always interesting and have been popping up more in recent times (it seemed like there was…
Looking forward to reading the review.