Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: September 2018

Sunday Status Update: September 30, 2018

Another week, more reading!

Jana: This week I made good progress with Julie Kagawa‘s upcoming Shadow of the Fox, which begins a new YA fantasy series (trilogy?) heavily influenced by Japanese feudal-era culture and mythology. It’s scratching my shoujo manga itch in a serious way, and I’m really enjoying it. I also read Waubgeshig Rice’s upcoming post-apocalyptic novel Moon of the Crusted Snow, which blends First Nations storytelling and history in a way that I don’t see nearly often enough.

September 30th, 2018. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |

Yaketpachi’s Maria: How on earth do I evaluate this book?

Yaketpachi’s Maria by Osamu Tezuka

Yaketpachi’s Maria by Osamu Tezuka was written in 1970 and recently translated and published in 2017 by Digital Manga, Inc., a company that has been putting out editions recently of Tezuka’s later works. It is about a young tough boy in seventh grade (though he has been held back a year), who gives birth to a formless ectoplasm that requires a body to speak and move around. So, they provide this creature with the body of a toy doll — of the adult variety!

September 29th, 2018. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Record of the Glass Castle: Tezuka explores the darker side of humanity

Record of the Glass Castle by Osamu Tezuka

Record of the Glass Castle by Osamu Tezuka is a manga that was originally serialized in 1970 and was recently translated by Marti McElreath and released by Digital Manga Inc. It has a great premise that allows Tezuka to once again explore the darker side of humanity, as he often did in his later work of the 1970s. The Glass Castle is a house in which a family has been in cryosleep for twenty years — from 1972 to 1992.

September 29th, 2018. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Alabaster (Volumes I and II): A dark but compelling story

Alabaster (Volumes I and II) by Osamu Tezuka

Alabaster (Volumes I and II), written by Osamu Tezuka in 1970 and published in 2015 by Digital Manga, Inc., is a dark but compelling story that touches on the evils of which humankind are capable and the resentment and desire for revenge that results in those who are mistreated. Alabaster’s story allows Tezuka to critique bigotry, specifically focusing on racism in the United States. James Block, a young African-American gold-medal winning Olympic athlete, turned into Alabaster because of his experience with the woman he loved as a young man.

September 29th, 2018. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Scream and Scream Again!: Spooky Stories from Mystery Writers of America

Scream and Scream Again! edited by R.L. Stine

Scream and Scream Again!: Spooky Stories from Mystery Writers of America (2018) is a short-form horror anthology in which “every story begins or ends with a scream,” and its twenty contributors are all members of Mystery Writers of America, an organization “dedicated to promoting higher regard for crime writing and recognition and respect for those who write within the genre.” The anthology is edited by R.L. Stine, himself a contributing author, and the overall age range of its protagonists and general subject matter mark it firmly as suitable for the pre-teen and early-teen crowd.

The Euphrates Tree: Deals with serious topics of great importance

The Euphrates Tree by Osamu Tezuka

The Euphrates Tree is written and drawn by the great Osamu Tezuka, who is known as the “God of Comics.” Tezuka warns us in the postscript not to take this story too seriously; however, I am afraid I will have to go against his advice, because I believe this volume of manga deals with serious topics of great importance. It is about three high school students who visit Jova Island and discover the mysterious Euphrates tree. The tree bears fruit that, if eaten,

September 28th, 2018. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Thoughtful Thursday: Thieves we love (giveaway!)

Thieves. They steal our reading hearts. Admit it — somewhere in your fantasy/sci-fi library is some charming rogue who won you over even as he/she lifted your purse. It’s what they do, damn them. With their clever tongue and even more clever hands. Their shifty eyes and even more shifty ethics. They play us poor readers like the marks we are. And despite that, we keep coming back for more.

We all have our favorites. Around here one such a one is Locke Lamora, along with his band of fellow con artists collectively known as The Gentlemen Bastards (also the title of the series,

September 27th, 2018. Bill Capossere | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 39 comments |

You May Now Kill the Bride: Nostalgic fun for fans of FEAR STREET

You May Now Kill the Bride by R.L. Stine

If you’re an adult who enjoyed R.L. Stine’s GOOSEBUMPS series as a kid and/or his FEAR STREET series as a teenager, then his new RETURN TO FEAR STREET series, beginning with You May Now Kill the Bride (2018), will surely pluck some of your nostalgic heart-strings. (The distressed, much-read appearance of the cover is an obvious nod to that very appeal.) I devoured Stine’s work as a young reader, so I wondered,

Summers at Castle Auburn: A lovely YA romance

Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn

Summers at Castle Auburn (2001) was my first exposure to Sharon Shinn‘s fantasies, and it was pretty much insta-love for me (I like to think that Shinn returns my affections in a distant and anonymous fan-appreciation kind of way). It instantly set me off on a search for more of her books.

Corie is the teenaged illegitimate daughter of a nobleman who died before the story begins, but the royal family is still keeping close tabs on her.

WWWednesday: September 26, 2018

Awards:

Locus has the Man-Booker Prize short list.

Tananarive Due received the Octavia Butler Award.

Conventions:

I don’t think this is behind a paywall; Amy Brennan writes about Nine Worlds, accessibility issues and the convention in general. The panel on “Cheese and Cheese” sounds funny.

Books and Writing:

Gary Trudeau talks about fifty years of “Doonesbury” and writing satire in the Trump era.

I’m including this article from Locus,

September 26th, 2018. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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