Readers who were enthralled by Ilana C. Myer’s 2015 debut novel, Last Song Before Night, will be pleased to know that they can expect more of what they enjoyed in the sequel/companion novel, Fire Dance (2018). Myer’s prose is rich and imaginative, and her worldbuilding is multi-layered. For my own part, I think that many important details wouldn’t have made sense to me if I hadn’t read Last Song Before Night first,
April 11th, 2018. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Ilana C. Myer | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Unbury Carol (2018) is billed as a Weird West story, and Josh Malerman has staged it in a world that has the trappings of the mythical American West — stagecoaches, outlaws, “triggermen” and a perilous Trail the outlaws ride. Malerman’s prose is elegant and he manages to create, at least with the character of Sheriff Opal, an authentic sense of rhythm and regional speech. Moments of bizarre imagery startled me and captured my imagination. Overall, though, the many intricately carved pieces just didn’t fit into a congruent whole for me.
April 10th, 2018. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Josh Malerman | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Our weekly exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few excellent stories, including three more from the current crop of Nebula and Hugo award nominees.
Dirty Old Town by Richard Bowes (2017, Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, May/June 2017 issue; PDF is temporarily free here, courtesy of F&SF). 2018 Nebula award nominee (novelette)
Richard Bowes is no stranger to semi-autobiographical work. He returns to that form here in his novelette Dirty Old Town,
April 9th, 2018. Katie Burton and Tadiana Jones | Aliette De_Bodard, Richard Bowes | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
Two years ago when we were involved with Mark Lawrence’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off, Senlin Ascends (2017) was one of the books that didn’t make it to the final round (so we didn’t get to read it then). But Mark Lawrence read it, started talking about it on the internet, and it got picked up by Orbit Books. Hachette, the parent company of Orbit Books, just recently produced it in audio format and sent me a copy.
April 9th, 2018. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Josiah Bancroft | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Jupiter’s Legacy (vols. 1 & 2) by Mark Millar & Frank Quitely
Jupiter’s Legacy (vols. 1 & 2) by Mark Millar, with art by the incredible Frank Quitely, tells the origin story of a new group of superheroes. It is told quickly and succinctly, switching between the early days and the present, years after the race of superheroes began. In the present, we meet the next generation of superheroes, and they have many problems dealing with superhero parents. Having a therapist seems to be expected when you are the child of a superhero.
April 7th, 2018. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Mark Millar | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Chrononauts by Mark Millar & Sean Murphy
How else can I describe Chrononauts but as a wild ride? Mark Millar, the master of the blockbuster comic book, increases the action beyond his usual by cramming more events than you can possibly imagine into a four-issue mini-series. He collaborated on the idea with artist Sean Murphy, and the result is a buddy adventure story across time and place.
Dr. Quinn first creates an unmanned time machine — more of a satellite — that allows the world to observe events in the past on live television.
April 7th, 2018. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4 | Mark Millar | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Jessica Jones, Scarred Hero: Essays on Gender, Trauma, and Addiction in the Netflix Series ed. Tim Rayborn & Abigail Keyes
It’s hard to fault an anthology for doing exactly what its title says it’s going to do, and so I won’t. I’m just going to note that Jessica Jones, Scarred Hero mostly focuses like a laser on its three sub-topics, particularly the latter two — trauma and addiction — and so if you are looking for a wide-ranging look at the character/series, one that might have essays dealing with class,
April 6th, 2018. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Olympus Bound by Jordanna Max Brodsky
Warning: some mild spoilers for both The Immortals and Winter of the Gods will be unavoidable.
In Olympus Bound (2018), Jordanna Max Brodsky concludes the OLYMPUS BOUND trilogy she began with The Immortals, featuring the Greek goddess Artemis living in modern-day New York City under various appellations, including Selene. As the books progressed, the remaining Greek gods dwindled in number,
April 6th, 2018. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Jordanna Max Brodsky | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
School for Psychics by K.C. Archer
Theodora “Teddy” Cannon is hiding her short black hair and slight build under a long blonde wig, weighted underwear that adds thirty pounds, and cheap flashy clothing. It’s all in an effort to fool the security personnel and facial recognition software at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. There she plans to parlay her $5,000 bankroll (from selling her car) into enough money to pay back the $270,000 she owes to Sergei Zharkov, a vicious Vegas bookie, and her adoptive parents, who know Teddy has been living an aimless and trouble-strewn life but are unaware that she’s stolen $90,000 from their retirement account to make a partial payment to Zharkov.
April 5th, 2018. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2.5 | K.C. Archer | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Stone Girl’s Story by Sarah Beth Durst
High up in the mountains, in a marble house, live a stone girl and her animal friends, who are also carved from stone. In this world, magical symbols and marks carved into stone make the stone come alive, giving it the power to move above, see, speak and hear, think, and even fly. Mayka, the stone girl, and her family of living stone birds, rabbits, a cat, an owl and others, were all carved and brought to life by a kindly master stonemason. The marks tell their stories,
April 4th, 2018. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4.5 | Sarah Beth Durst | Children | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…
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…