Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: June 2017

Black Dog Short Stories: Events in the lives of key Black Dog characters

Black Dog Short Stories by Rachel Neumeier

This set of four short stories is an interlude in Rachel Neumeier’s BLACK DOG universe, where werewolves ― more properly known in this world as black dogs ― are adjusting to a world where humans are now aware of them, after an interspecies war that wiped out the world’s vampires and decimated many of the black dog packs. To the black dogs’ dismay, destroying the vampires also destroyed a type of mental mist or miasma produced by the vampires that kept humans from recognizing the magical creatures around them.

A Kiss Before Doomsday: Crystals, demonic cars, the undead and 70s Disco-wear; this one’s got it all

A Kiss Before Doomsday by Laurence MacNaughton

Laurence MacNaughton is back with the second installment of his urban fantasy DRU JASPER series. This one, A Kiss Before Doomsday (2017), takes place shortly after the first book ended. Dru, a crystal witch working in Denver, Colorado, believes the love of her life, the demonically possessed Grayson, died helping her escape from the netherworld, but we know Grayson is alive and at risk. He’s been abducted by the undead, and faces a terrible fate, as does the world,

June 26th, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Laurence MacNaughton | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Lost Stars: Lost interest

Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Lost Stars (2015) is not in want of a good premise. The story takes place over the course of events in A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi. It chronicles the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire and the struggles of two star-crossed individuals as they try to find their place within the changing political environment of the galaxy. The aristocratic Thane Kyrell and lowly labourer Ciena Ree both reside on the Outer Rim of planet Jelucan.

City of Light: Unique worldbuilding and memorable magic

City of Light by Keri Arthur

Keri Arthur’s books aren’t normally my style, but the description of City of Light (2016) interested me, so I jumped on it. A futuristic world that has been ravaged by war? Reality has been fundamentally altered? Yes, please.

The worldbuilding impressed me from the start. This world felt strange enough to not be our world, but similar enough for me to try to pick out where all this was taking place from various points of reference Arthur gave her readers.

June 26th, 2017. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 4 | Keri Arthur | SFF Reviews | no comments |

MONSTRESS 1: Awakening: Demands complete attention, careful consideration

MONSTRESS 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda

Every now and then, a story will tip you into a strange new world without any attempt at exposition or context, leaving you to catch up on events in the most exhilarating way possible. You either sink or swim, and MONSTRESS is one such graphic novel, demanding complete attention, careful consideration, and at least two re-reads in order to grasp all of its detail.

We first meet Maiko Halfwolf as she’s put up for auction as a slave – a pretty clear indication of how dark this story can get,

Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms by Fumiyo Kouno

Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms by Fumiyo Kouno (An Oxford College Student Review!)

In this column, I feature comic book reviews written by my students at Oxford College of Emory University. Oxford College is a small liberal arts school just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. I challenge students to read and interpret comics because I believe sequential art and visual literacy are essential parts of education at any level (see my Manifesto!). I’ll be posting the best of my students’ reviews in this column.

June 24th, 2017. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

The Promise of the Child: Ambitious but confusing space opera

The Promise of the Child by Tom Toner

The Promise of the Child (2015), an ambitious space opera that spans centuries and multiple planetary systems, begins with a prologue set in in fourteenth century Praha (Prague), where Princess Eliška, married to King John of Bohemia, meets with a man named Aaron to discuss his help with her son’s ill health. The story then jumps to AD 14,647 … but we will meet Aaron (“the Long-Life”) again.

In this distant future, humanity has spread to many worlds and “prismed”

June 23rd, 2017. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3 | Tom Toner | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

A World from Dust: How the Periodic Table Shaped Life

A World from Dust: How the Periodic Table Shaped Life by Ben McFarland

A World from Dust: How the Periodic Table Shaped Life (2016), by Ben McFarland, can at times be a difficult read, but despite that, and regardless of some writing/structural issues, it’s an often engaging and always confidently informative exploration of how life was driven down certain paths by the implacable requirements of chemistry.

McFarland’s perspective contrasts directly, as he describes on several occasions, with Stephen J. Gould’s pronouncement that if the “tape of life” were rerun from the beginning,

June 22nd, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Miranda: An absolutely charming fish-out-of-water tale

Miranda directed by Ken Annakin

Back in the early ’60s, when I was a very young lad, there were two television programs that held a great fascination for my young mind. One was the part live/part animated kiddie show Diver Dan, which featured the undersea adventures of the titular hero, and showcased one very beautiful blonde mermaid, called Miss Minerva. The other program was one that I have a feeling not too many remember, for the simple reason that it only lasted 13 episodes in the fall of ’63. That show was simply called Glynis,

June 22nd, 2017. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

WWWednesday: June 21, 2017

The name for the sound a quail makes is called curkling. That’s this week’s word for Wednesday.

Skye is looking forward to The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss. Skye says, “I loved ‘Red and Blood and White as Bone’” by the same author.

“The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera comes out this October and looks like it will include some interesting elements and characters. I’m excited to see what it has in store!”

Rebecca also sees some treats on the New Releases list.

June 21st, 2017. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 4 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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