First of all, let me lay a few cards on the table: Gene Wolfe is my favorite science-fiction author and might be my favorite author, period. I’d give something like fifteen of his books five-star reviews; the only other author who comes close to that is Jack Vance.
Free Live Free (1984) is one of his two books that I just. Don’t. Get. (Castleview is the other.) I’ve read it at least three times,
September 17th, 2018. Nathan Okerlund´s rating: 3 | Gene Wolfe | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
This week, some great reads for the changing season!
Jana: This week I started reading Legion, which compiles Brandon Sanderson‘s two previously-published LEGION novellas and a third, previously-unpublished novella which rounds out the trilogy. I’m not a frequent reader of Sanderson’s work, but there’s a lot to enjoy in these novellas. I’m still making progress with Nick Mamatas‘ new short story collection, The People’s Republic of Everything, as well. Next week I’ll be reading Barren,
September 16th, 2018. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |
The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes
The Storm Runner (2018) by J.C. Cervantes is the second book put out by Disney-Hyperion as part of their Rick Riordan Presents imprint. Aimed at Middle-Grade readers, the imprint’s goal is to “elevate the diversity of mythologies around the world” and publish “entertaining, mythology-based diverse fiction by debut, emerging, and under-represented authors.” The first, which focused on Indian mythology, was Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi. Here the underlying mythos is Mayan,
September 14th, 2018. Bill Capossere´s rating: 1.5 | J.C. Cervantes | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Voyage of the Dogs by Greg van Eekhout
Voyage of the Dogs (2018) by Greg van Eekhout is a middle-grade science fiction book. Young readers will certainly enjoy this action-packed book with dog main characters. Adult dog lovers can enjoy it too.
Lopside is part of a team of “Barkonauts,” specially trained uplifted dogs who are part of the first interstellar space voyage. The Laika is aimed at a planet nicknamed Stepping Stone. Along with the human crew, embryos of cattle and sheep,
September 14th, 2018. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Greg Van_Eekhout | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones is the grand-daddy of television adaptations of beloved speculative fiction books, but with companies like Netflix and Amazon making the transition from content-providers to content-creators, the list grows.
When we include graphic works as well as prose only, the steady flow of episodic TV adaptations becomes a flood. And there are more in the pipeline. It’s no wonder; multiple episodes allow the studio time to develop characters and explore subplots that are trimmed out of two-plus-hour movie. In some cases, though, the adapters choose to go in a completely different direction and it’s hard to find the source material in there.
September 13th, 2018. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 26 comments |
The Brass God by K.M. McKinley
The Brass God (2018) is the third installment in K.M. McKinley’s THE GATES OF THE WORLD series begun with The Iron Ship and continued in City of Ice. By now, readers should be accustomed to the slow pace and sprawling structure, and The Brass God offers more of the same, though it’s better paced than its predecessor. I’m not sure everyone will have the patience for this series,
September 13th, 2018. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | K.M. McKinley | SFF Reviews | 12 comments |
The Dragon Lords: Bad Faith by Jon Hollins
Bad Faith (2018) concludes the DRAGON LORDS trilogy Jon Hollins began with Fool’s Gold, a rollicking heist story that more than earned its comparisons to The Guardians of the Galaxy and The Hobbit. The trilogy’s second volume, False Idols, answered some lingering questions I’d had, but also took the series down a darker and more meandering path.
September 13th, 2018. Jana Nyman´s rating: 2.5 | Jon Hollins | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Cummudge is “cosy and comfortable” according to Haggard Hawks. Definitely adding that one to my everyday vocabulary!
Books and Writing:
Tor.com is looking for bloggers. They pay by the article.
LitHub profiles the author of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.
“In the history of epic fantasy, following this analogy and paradigm, there has always been a voice in a minor key, a strain of fantasy with antiheroes, shades of dark grey and darkness, worlds where hope and optimism are not valued or are even punished.
September 12th, 2018. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 4 comments |
Drop by Drop by Morgan Llywelyn
I’m going to make this short. There was nothing — absolutely nothing — that I liked about Drop by Drop (2018), the first book in Morgan Llywelyn’s new STEP BY STEP trilogy.
The story is about a small town where everybody seems to know everybody else. Suddenly one day, the plastic gradually starts to melt. Everything that is made of plastic eventually fails (they call it “The Change”) and the society has to learn to live without plastic.
September 12th, 2018. Kat Hooper´s rating: 1 | Morgan Llywelyn | Audio | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller
“People would say she came to Qaanaaq in a skiff towed by a killer whale harnessed to the front like a horse. In these stories, which grew astonishingly elaborate in the days and weeks after her arrival, the polar bear paced beside her on flat bloody deck of the boat. Her face was clenched and angry…”
Blackfish City (2018) is the cyberpunk book I’ve been wanting to read for a while now, without really knowing it.
September 12th, 2018. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Sam J. Miller | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 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…