In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
I didn’t have a great experience with the first WAYWARD CHILDREN book I read by Seanan McGuire — Every Heart a Doorway — which put me off the next few books in the series. But I decided to give the well-reviewed series another shot with In an Absent Dream (2019), and I’m glad I did as it certainly struck a far more responsive chord and has encouraged me to take a look at the others I’ve missed.
January 22nd, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Seanan McGuire | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Voodoo Killings by Kristi Charish
Kincaid Strange is one of the two known remaining voodoo practitioners in Seattle. She’s had a hard time making end meet, ever since new laws went into effect restricting the raising of zombies. Permanent zombies ― called five-line zombies for the magical lines that anchor their four limbs and head to life ― are outlawed entirely; four-line temporary zombies (who are missing the magical line to the head) may be raised only under severely restricted circumstances. Temporary zombies are actually quite useful in resolving issues like murders and last will and testament disputes,
January 22nd, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3 | Kristi Charish | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Our exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve read recently that we wanted you to know about.
“Birch Daughter” by Sara Norja (2018, free at Fireside Magazine)
“Birch Daughter” is about Aino, a young woman whose mother was turned into a birch tree by an evil spell. After hearing from the forest-folk in her dreams, Aino sets out to save her mother from her fate.
There’s a certain delicacy to “Birch Daughter.” From the first few lines it made me acutely aware of every choice every character made,
January 21st, 2019. Skye Walker, Tadiana Jones, Jana Nyman and Bill Capossere | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Sarah Tarkoff follows up her debut YA novel Sinless with Fearless (2019), the second installment in the EYE OF THE BEHOLDER trilogy. I didn’t enjoy Sinless and this trilogy’s middle book didn’t get its hooks in me either, carrying over a lot of the issues I had with book one and creating some entirely new ones that don’t bode well for the trilogy as a whole.
Grace Luther remains preternaturally lucky,
January 21st, 2019. Jana Nyman´s rating: 2 | Sarah Tarkoff | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
At a small California college, a strange illness has broken out on one floor of a co-ed dorm. Some of the students have fallen asleep and can’t be woken. Doctors and psychiatrists are baffled. All they know is that these students are dreaming and their brain activity is off the charts.
As the unknown disease keeps spreading, the dorm is quarantined, then the hospital, and eventually the entire college town.
Citizens are panicked as they worry about themselves and their families. It seems like just a matter of time before the whole town is asleep.
January 21st, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Karen Thompson Walker | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
We have a few recommendations for reads to carry you through the winter. Take a look!
Bill: This week I read Kellanved’s Reach by Ian Cameron Esslemont, Turned On: Science, Sex, and Robots by Kate Devlin, and In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire. The first a solid but somewhat flat entry in an otherwise enjoyable series, the last so much better than my first WAYWARD CHILDREN attempt it has convinced me to try the others,
January 21st, 2019. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 4 comments |
Criminal (Vol. 5): The Sinners by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
Tracy Lawless, whom we met in Criminal (vol. 2): Lawless, returns in The Sinners, volume five of Criminal. In this volume, he’s working for Sebastian Hyde, the man behind most of the organized crime in the city. He doesn’t want to work for Hyde, but he’s given his word (due to reasons explained in volume two), and Tracy always keeps his word — which keeps getting him into trouble.
January 19th, 2019. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Ed Brubaker | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton
Arwen Elys Dayton’s latest novel, Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful (2018) is a novel comprised of six linked stories, each taking part in a different point in humanity’s future, beginning “A few years from now,” leapfrogging to various points beyond, and ending when “They have left us far behind.” Dayton doesn’t specify the precise year or time period, letting the pace and scale of scientific advancements inform the reader’s imagination. Her teenaged protagonists each experience some kind of alteration (or lack thereof) and must cope with backlash,
January 18th, 2019. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Arwen Elys Dayton | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Here are some of the books we can’t wait for in 2019!
Hover over the covers to see what our reviewers said about each book.
Which books are you looking forward to this year? One commenter wins a book from our stacks.
January 17th, 2019. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 45 comments |
The Thief of Forthe and Other Stories by Clifford Ball
If I were to ask 1,000 people what the words “Clifford Ball” meant to them, those to whom it meant anything, I have a feeling, would reply that the Clifford Ball was the first weekendlong concert bash that the jam band Phish ever held, back in August ’96, in Plattsburgh, N.Y. Fewer, perhaps, would know that the provenance for the name of that shindig was the aviation pioneer Clifford Ball, whose moniker the Phish folks thought would be a cool and punny handle for their event.
January 17th, 2019. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Clifford Ball | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 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…