The Five Sisters by Margaret Mahy
You always know you’re in for a magical, whimsical treat when reading something by Margaret Mahy, one of New Zealand’s most best-loved children’s authors. The Five Sisters (1997) is no exception, recounting the marvellous adventures of five paper dolls with linked hands.
On a hot summer day Sally entreats her Nana for a story, but instead watches as she folds a piece of paper and draws a doll with a crooked smile and strong running shoes called Alpha.
September 5th, 2018. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Margaret Mahy | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Hollywood Dead by Richard Kadrey
“There’s dead and then there’s Hollywood dead and those are two very different things.
Dead is just dead. In the ground. Pennies on your eyes. A cold slab of meat and no slaw and definitely no dessert.
But Hollywood dead? That can be a lot of things. Yeah, you’re still a slab of meat, but now you come with curly fries and hot apple pie.”
James Stark, once known as Sandman Slim, is Hollywood dead when the 2018 book of the same name opens.
September 4th, 2018. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Richard Kadrey | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Hercules Text by Jack McDevitt
In the near future, NASA scientists pick up a signal from space that turns out to be a coded message (“The Hercules Text”) from an alien species. It originated a million years ago, so it’s unlikely that the aliens still exist, and even if they do they’re very far away, but the message tells us that (1) We are not (or were not) alone in the universe and (2) A million years ago these aliens were sophisticated enough to send this technologically advanced message.
These facts have profound effects on the scientists and other people involved with the NASA project.
September 3rd, 2018. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Jack McDevitt | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Wavesong & The Stone Key by Isabelle Carmody
Every book in Isabelle Carmody‘s THE OBERNEWTYN CHRONICLES is longer than the one before, which accounts for the splitting of the fifth volume into two parts. Though The Stone Key (2008) was originally published by Penguin as a singular book, American publisher Random House divided it into Wavesong and The Stone Key, turning the original volume into the fifth and sixth books in the series.
September 3rd, 2018. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Isobelle Carmody | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
September rolls in, and it’s time for more reading.
Bill: This week I read the last of J.R.R. Tolkien’sthree “Great Tales”: The Fall of Gondolin, an absolutely gorgeous (thanks to a number of illustrations by Alan Lee) edition edited by his son Christopher, who also traces the story’ evolution and adds critical commentary. I also read The Storm Runnerby J.C. Cervantes, the disappointing second book in the “Rick Riordan Presents” MG series. In genre media, my son and I both watched and enjoyed the first two episodes of Travelerson Netflix,
September 2nd, 2018. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |
The Woods (Volumes 1-9) by James Tynion IV is a science fiction coming-of-age story that tells a wonderfully bizarre tale across thirty-six issues (four issues per volume). A school in our world gets transported to another planet or dimension, we’re not sure which. We also do not know who is behind this event or what their reasons are. This comic book series is as much an adventure story as it is coming-of-age, and even though adults — teachers and administration — get transported along with the kids, it is a group of high school students who take the lead,
September 1st, 2018. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
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.),…