Richard K. Morgan’s stand-alone novel Thin Air (2018) is set on Mars in the universe of his novel Thirteen. His protagonist, Hakan Veil, is a disgraced “enforcer” who’s just been dumped on Mars by the corporation to whom he had been indentured since childhood. They recently fired him. Hakan would love to get back to Earth, but that’s nearly impossible these days because it costs too much to get there and Earth lets very few people in.
January 8th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Richard K. Morgan | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Wild Seed by Octavia Butler
Wild Seed (1980) was written last in Octavia Butler’s 5-book PATTERNIST series, but comes first in chronology. The next books, by internal chronology, are Mind of My Mind (1977), Clay’s Ark (1984), and Patternmaster (1976). Butler was later unsatisfied with Survivor (1978) and elected to not have it reprinted, so I will focus on the main four volumes. Wild Seed is an origin story set well before later books and can stand on its own.
January 8th, 2019. Stuart Starosta, Marion Deeds and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5, 5 | Octavia Butler | Audio, Edge | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
Nahri, a young woman living alone in 18th century Cairo, gets by doing minor cons, fake healing rituals and a little theft. She knows nothing about her parents or heritage but, in addition to being able to diagnose disease in others with a glance and occasionally truly heal them, her own body automatically heals of injuries almost instantly and she has the magical ability to understand ― and speak ― any language.
Nahri’s life gets upended when she accidentally summons Darayavahoush, a fiery,
January 7th, 2019. Tadiana Jones, Ray McKenzie, Bill Capossere and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | S.A. Chakraborty | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Welcome to 2019! These are the books we’re reading to start off the year.
Bill:
This week I finished just one (very long) book, Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s Labyrinth of the Spirits, review to come. In genre, my son and I watched Ready, Player One which seemed over-long, overly enamored of pop references, and overly predictable.
Brad: This week I’ve mainly been reading comics, though I’ve read some bestsellers: Harari’s Sapiens and Macy’s Dopesick.
January 6th, 2019. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 2 comments |
Paper Girls (Vol 4) by Brian K. Vaughan
This is the fourth volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s Paper Girls, and we are finally given enough glimpses of the larger plot to make sense of what’s happened until this point.
[SPOILER TERRITORY AHEAD – DON’T READ UNLESS YOU’VE READ VOLUMES ONE-THREE]
After being thrown into the distant past and battling cavemen and befriending fierce natives, the girls once again in their future (and our past), namely during Y2K before the millenium.
January 5th, 2019. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Brian K. Vaughan | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Anyone who knows me well could tell you that I don’t see a lot of new films. As a matter of fact, of the 80 films that I saw in 2018 (a paltry total for me … maybe I’ve been reading too much?), only eight were new, and 72 were old. Thus, my annual Top 10 Best and 5 Worst lists are necessarily different than most. With me, any film that I saw for the first time in 2018 was eligible for either list. If the film made me laugh, or think, or tear up, or sit suspensefully on the edge of my seat,
January 4th, 2019. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Harsh Cry of the Heron by Lian Hearn
Whilst it never gained the traction of the likes of Pullman and Potter, the TALES OF THE OTORI series has all the same ingredients: the epic scope, mystery and intrigue, impossible love and an entirely immersive setting. Whether it was luck or timing that never saw the series reach the same heights as its contemporaries, its same crossover appeal proves it is surely one of the great YA fantasy series. So how is it possible that Lian Hearn (pseudonym of Gillian Rubinstein) can undermine this entire sweeping epic in one fell swoop?
January 4th, 2019. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 3 | Lian Hearn | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
A Conjuring of Light (2017) brings V.E. Schwab’s multi-world trilogy to a close while leaving plenty of room for future stories in the SHADES OF MAGIC universe. We (Bill and Marion) both read it, and we share their thoughts about the third book below. This review may contain light spoilers for A Darker Shade of Magic and A Gathering of Shadows.
A Gathering of Shadows ended on a cliffhanger.
January 3rd, 2019. Marion Deeds and Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5, 4 | Victoria (V.E.) Schwab | SFF Reviews | no comments |
It Happened at the Ball edited by Sherwood Smith
This collection of thirteen (mostly) fantasy short stories and a novelette or two is tied together by their ballroom settings, whether it be the Almack’s Regency ballroom (where a group of young ladies happens upon an overly potent magical love potion in Marissa Doyle’s “Just Another Quiet Evening at Almack’s”) or a Civil War-era ball in Galveston, Texas (P.G. Nagle’s “A Waltz for May”). There are also some other themes that surface and resurface: masks and hidden identities,
January 2nd, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Brenda Clough, Marie Brennan, Marissa Doyle, Pati Nagle, Sherwood Smith | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Toru Watanabe is just another kid studying drama at university when he falls for his friend Naoko, who is in a relationship with another of Toru’s friends, Kizuki — until Kizuki commits suicide. Emotionally confused because she feels “split in two and playing tag with myself,” Naoko escapes to a mountain retreat, though not before sleeping with Toru. Watanabe pines for Naoko as he passes time in Tokyo with his friend Nagasawa. Nagasawa likes The Great Gatsby, and he has no trouble finding women to sleep with him — and with Toru,
January 1st, 2019. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Haruki Murakami | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
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…