Anna Smaill’s debut fantasy novel The Chimes won the World Fantasy Award in 2016. It became available in the USA in 2017. The Chimes is a dark and beautiful fantasy that is filled with music.
After the death of his parents, Sebastian leaves his home and travels to London. His mother has sent him, with her dying words, to find a woman named Molly. Sebastian has the clothes on his back and a knapsack filled with objectmemories.
August 28th, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Anna Smaill | Stand-Alone, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Hot Blooded (2013) is the sequel to Full Blooded and the second in Amanda Carlson’s JESSICA MCCLAIN series. This review will contain some spoilers for the previous book.
Jessica’s mate has been stolen, and her goal is to get him back. Readers who are really hell-bent on the romance aspect of the series will find this rather frustrating. There are quite a few (logical) detours Jessica must make before she can get her man back.
August 26th, 2017. Sarah Chorn | Amanda Carlson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Death first comes to Otto Hundebiss on the battlefield. Surrounded by Otto’s friends and comrades, he offers to take Otto with him as well. Otto declines, and Death and his ghostly army vanish. So begins Sally Gardner‘s twisted take on the Hans Christian Anderson tale of the tinderbox. And it doesn’t get any more light-hearted after that…
Otto staggers through the woods in which the battle took place, a bullet in his side and a sword wound in his shoulder, and eventually passes out.
August 25th, 2017. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 3 | Sally Gardner | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Magician’s Key by Matthew Cody
I have to admit at the outset that I didn’t read Matthew Cody’s first book (The Peddler’s Road) in THE SECRETS OF THE PIED PIPER trilogy. But that turned out not to be much of an obstacle as Cody does a very efficient job early on of catching the returning reader up on the events of book one, so I never felt lost in what was happening. Obviously, I can’t comment on the quality of that first book,
August 24th, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Matthew Cody | Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert
The Dosadi Experiment is part of a series on Saboteur Extraordinary Jorj X. McKie consisting of two pieces of short fiction, A Matter of Traces (1958) and The Tactful Saboteur (1964), and two novels. The first novel is Whipping Star, which appeared in 1970. It was followed seven years later by this book. The books and stories can be read independently — in fact, that is what I did first time around —
August 23rd, 2017. Rob Weber´s rating: 5 | Frank Herbert | SFF Reviews | no comments |
This week’s word for Wednesday: Opid Alla Daga (the “d” in “opid” has a barred tail) means “Open every day” in Icelandic. Kaestur Hakarl is a traditional Icelandic food, served since around the year 1000, that consists of putrefied, dried Greenland shark. I wouldn’t call it a “delicacy.” It’s more of a tradition, or maybe a dare.
Obituary:
Rest in peace, Brian Aldiss. (Thanks to Kat.)
Giveaways:
Giveaways are now current through August 17. I just want to note for the record that I go away for two weeks and my Fanlit colleagues schedule 175 giveaways!
August 23rd, 2017. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 8 comments |
The Tourist by Robert Dickinson
The good news is that, in terms of time-travel novels, Robert Dickinson does quite a lot of interesting things with The Tourist (2016): dual narratives — one straightforward and one circuitous, commentary on human nature, and the mechanics of time-travel itself, along with its social and economic effects on the 21st-century. The bad news is that the novel stumbles in the third act and never regains its footing, sacrificing clarity and plot in favor of poetic imagery.
The Tourist begins by describing the prison “you” reside in,
August 23rd, 2017. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Robert Dickinson | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Accelerators Vo1. 1: Time Games by R.F.I. Porto, Gavin P. Smith, Tim Yates
If you were the kind of kid (or are the kind of adult) who staged epic action-figure battles between army guys and dinosaurs, or G.I. Joes and pretty much anything else, you’re going to love The Accelerator Vol. 1: Time Games’s blood-drenched stadium showdowns featuring Romans and Prohibition-era gangsters, Maya warriors and samurai, and much more, ably illustrated by Gavin Smith and Tim Yates. And if you’re in the mood for a forward-only time-travel mystery,
August 23rd, 2017. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
I’m of two minds on Drew Magary’s The Hike (2016). On the one hand, it’s a fast, energetic, often funny and sometimes moving work. On the other hand, its plotting feels wholly capricious and arbitrary and some of the territory it wanders is well-worn or less profound than it seems like it wants to be taken. I mostly like my books with a bit more structured depth, and if you do as well, then I think you’ll zip through and enjoy The Hike while also being a bit annoyed.
August 22nd, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Drew Magary | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Owlflight by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon
Owlflight (1997) is the first book in DARIAN’S TALE, one of the many trilogies/series that make up Mercedes Lackey’s VALDEMAR saga. Though DARIAN’S TALE was first published twenty years ago, according to the series’ internal chronologically it takes place late in the overall story. I had only read four of the VALDEMAR books before picking up Owlflight. I read it because Tantor Audio has just released it in audio format and will release its sequels,
August 22nd, 2017. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Mercedes Lackey | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
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.