Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: November 2017

Stranger Things 2: The world is turning upside down

Stranger Things 2 created by the Duffer Brothers

After its unexpected success last year, Stranger Things became an instant classic and fans have been clamouring for the release of the second series ever since. With its perfect combination of nostalgia, comedy and suspense, the show’s creators, the Duffer Brothers, gave themselves a hell of a first series to follow up. So, did they manage to live up to the hype?

Sequels always present a conundrum: you want to give the fans more of what they want (and know), whilst simultaneously trying to create something new.

November 16th, 2017. Ray McKenzie and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Devil in a Forest: “Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?”

The Devil in a Forest by Gene Wolfe

Gene Wolfe is different from most of us — at least, he’s certainly not like me. When I hear the song “Good King Wenceslas” I may wonder idly when the Feast of Stephen is (it’s December 26th, as I finally learned two years ago), if he was a real person (he was, although he was actually a duke) and, perhaps, if he was as good as all that (I have no idea). Gene Wolfe heard “Good King Wenceslas” and decided to write this book.

The Cuckoo’s Calling: Rowling makes a break without forgetting her roots

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)

Early in 2013, a new murder mystery came out. Written by an author named Robert Galbraith, The Cuckoo’s Calling was set in England and featured an army veteran detective with a prosthetic leg (he was injured saving other soldiers in Afghanistan), a strange family and an unusual name; Cormoran Strike. A few months later, through a series of different sources, it was revealed that “Robert Galbraith” was a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling,

WWWednesday: November 15, 2017

Awards:

Mike Resnick won this year’s Galaxy Award, given in China, for favorite foreign author.

Conventions:
Jo Walton is using Kickstarter to fund an intimate convention in Montreal next year; Scintillation.

Books and Writing:

Publishers Weekly gives its picks for the week. The Mannequin Makers sounds strangely intriguing.

Fans of Brandon Sanderson’s THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE series might enjoy this detailed blog post,

November 15th, 2017. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |

Scarlet in the Snow: A unique and interesting take on Beauty and the Beast

Scarlet in the Snow by Sophie Masson

Sophie Masson‘s unofficial fairy tale trilogy is linked only by the presence of feya (powerful fairies) and certain geographical locations, which hint that Scarlet in the Snow, Moonlight & Ashes, and The Crystal Heart all exist in the same world, though none of the stories or characters ever interact.

Each one is based on a traditional fairy tale, with Scarlet in the Snow providing some interesting twists on the story of Beauty and the Beast.

Stranger Things: Scares and swoons, this show has it all

Stranger Things created by the Duffer Brothers

Like The Hunger Games and Star Wars before it, Stranger Things is that rare breed of entertainment which becomes a franchise almost instantly upon release. What’s more, it firmly established Netflix’s media strategy: The Binge. With the days of having to wait a week between episodes firmly over — and at a modest eight episodes long — some people managed to finish the first series in a day. So what winning formula managed to establish such a die-hard legion of fans?

November 15th, 2017. Ray McKenzie and Jana Nyman´s rating: 5 | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Tracy Townsend chats about THE NINE, RPGs, and gives away a book!

Tracy Townsend’s debut novel The Nine is the first book of a series set in a second world. It pays homage to the classics, to steampunk and to role-playing games. Townsend has a Master’s Degree in Writing and Rhetoric from DePaul university and currently teaches writing and science fiction/fantasy literature at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. She’s also taught martial arts and worked as a stage combat and accent coach. We asked Tracy a few questions about The Nine and her writing history.

Three random commenters with US or Canadian addresses will get a copy of The Nine.

November 14th, 2017. Marion Deeds | Tracy Townsend | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 21 comments |

The Faerie Handbook: Lots of information and art, and a few crafts

The Faerie Handbook by Carolyn Turgeon & the editors of Faerie Magazine

The editors of Faerie Magazine have compiled The Faerie Handbook: An Enchanting Compendium of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects (2017), and its eye-catching lavender-and-silver binding and satin ribbon bookmark certainly seem appealing, but do the contents match the cover?

Faerie appreciation is nothing new — there was a big craze in the middle of England’s Victorian era, justified thusly:

Real life was stark and challenging for most Victorians,

November 14th, 2017. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Non-fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |

SHORTS: Howard, Wilde, Gaiman, Ellison, Keller, Dick

Our weekly exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve read that we wanted you to know about.

“A Recipe for Magic” by Kat Howard and Fran Wilde (2017, free at Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy blog, free to download for Nook)

“A Recipe for Magic,” co-written by Kat Howard and Fran Wilde, features a curious kind of shop: at the Night and Day Bakery, magic spells are baked directly into pastries and confections,

The Nine: Original premise, cool gadgets and a great heist story

The Nine by Tracy Townsend

The Nine (2017), by Tracy Townsend, is the first book in a fantasy series titled THE THIEVES OF FATE. This second-world fantasy, with its fascinating premise, imaginative settings, cool gadgets, and rich visuals, gives the reader an exciting heist story, beautifully rendered non-human people and an intellectually challenging, thought-provoking look at science, faith, and perception of God.

The Nine follows Rowena, a young woman who serves as a courier for a shady character;

November 13th, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Tracy Townsend | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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