The Scarlet Plague by Jack London
Editor’s note: Because it’s in the public domain, it’s easy to find an inexpensive electronic copy of this book.
By the time Jack London released his post-apocalyptic novel The Scarlet Plague in 1912, the author was 36 years old — just four years shy of his premature passing in 1916 — and yet had already managed to cram in more incident and adventure into those three dozen years than most folks do in their lifetime.
April 24th, 2018. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Jack London | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
When Clay Cooper returns home from work to find his old friend, Gabriel, waiting on him, he knows something is wrong. He learns that Gabe’s headstrong daughter has run off to be a mercenary and ended up in a city besieged by an overwhelming horde of monsters. Gabe is now desperate to get their “band,” Saga, back together and go save her. Saga used to be the most famous mercenary band ever. Tales of Slowhand Clay, Golden Gabe, Arcandius Moog, Matrick Skulldrummer, and Ganelon are still told in the pubs throughout the kingdom to this day.
April 24th, 2018. Greg Hersom and Tim Scheidler´s rating: 5 | Nicholas Eames | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Lily Brooks-Dalton’s general fiction novel, Good Morning, Midnight (2017), is literary in nature but uses speculative elements to contemplate isolation, hope, despair and human connection. The book has beautiful prose, especially in some of the descriptions of the arctic, and interesting insights into human nature, but it was not a completely satisfying book for me. In a few places, the hand of the author can be seen forcing events in order to make the story work, and some of these tropes,
April 23rd, 2018. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Lily Brooks-Dalton | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold
This is Marion’s review of The Vor Game, Brothers in Arms, and Mirror Dance. Kat’s comments about Mirror Dance are at the bottom.
Miles Vorkosigan is nearly a dwarf, with bones as brittle as fine porcelain, and he is a Vor, one of the elite, the son of the Imperial Regent. The Vor, and everyone on Barrayar for that matter, are terrified of mutation because of their history, and Miles looks like a mutation even though he isn’t one.
April 23rd, 2018. Marion Deeds, Kat Hooper and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4.5 | Lois McMaster Bujold | Hugo Award | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Jupiter’s Circle (Volumes 1 & 2) by Mark Millar, Frank Quitely, Wilfredo Torres
Jupiter’s Circle (Volumes 1 & 2) by Mark Millar, a prequel to Jupiter’s Legacy, is an excellent retelling and critique of the golden age of superheroes. There’s plenty of action, but it is sidelined for the primary purpose of telling the private lives of the heroes. Their trials and tribulations behind the scenes are what make this comic so good. We see what the public in the comic does not,
April 21st, 2018. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Mark Millar | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
How the Universe Works by Chartwell Books
Though not without some issues, How the Universe Works is generally an excellent reference work for a decently wide range of readers young to old (I’d guess it’s targeted at older teens and adults). Elementary school children will feel a little overwhelmed by some of the text, but the wonderful graphics: cut-away diagrams, timelines, etc., will provide them some clear and manageable info. Older young readers will follow the textual information better and the illustrations will serve as enhancement and clarification,
April 20th, 2018. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
I’m unfamiliar with Neal Shusterman’s other novels and his work on television shows like Animorphs and Goosebumps, but simply based on what I enjoyed about Scythe (2016) and considering that it was nominated for the Printz Award in 2017, I feel confident in saying that he knows how to write for his audience while throwing in some interesting curveballs that keep this novel, the first in a dystopian YA trilogy, from feeling like a rubber-stamp duplication of every mediocre example of that genre.
April 20th, 2018. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Neal Shusterman | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Magic of Wind and Mist by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Cassandra Rose Clarke originally published two novels, The Assassin’s Curse and The Pirate’s Wish, which were later collected in the omnibus Magic of Blood and Sea. The omnibus Magic of Wind and Mist (2017) collects two more novels, The Wizard’s Promise and its previously-unpublished sequel, The Nobleman’s Revenge.
April 19th, 2018. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Cassandra Rose Clarke | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway
The Gone-Away World (2008) is a post-apocalyptic comedy/tragedy about our world before and after the Gone-Away Bombs have wiped up out much of humanity and the world we know. It is about Gonzo Lubitsch and his nameless best friend, who work for a special crew that is assigned to put of a fire along the Jorgmond pipeline, which produced the special material “Fox” that can eliminate the Stuff, the matter that is left over after gone-away bombs have removed the information from matter so that it no longer can form coherent form and structure.
April 19th, 2018. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 3.5 | Nick Harkaway | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Awards:
This year’s Man Booker Prize finalist list includes two works of genre interest.
Books and Writing:
At Tor.com, Seanan Maguire writes about fanfic as the best writing school there is.
For all you writers out there, some of these markets are open through the end of the month, so send them your stuff!
The Stan Lee story gets stranger and sadder, as the iconic comics publisher/cameo artist, who is responsible for the largest comics empire in the nation,
April 18th, 2018. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 1 comment |
Gentlemen, I concur! (Forgive me for jumping into your convo)
The cover is amazing. I love how the graphic novel (and the review!) hewed close to the theme of "good…
I've thought about picking that one up. The artwork looks perfect.
I like the way you think, Bill. I found the second one particularly objectionable; the one with Khan. It was…
I find if I take every Trek reference out of them (the title, the character names, the ship names, etc.),…