The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky
Jordanna Max Brodsky switches gears ever-so-slightly in her novel The Wolf in the Whale (2019), continuing her examination of old-gods-in-diaspora from her OLYMOUS BOUND series while taking a step back in time — a little over a thousand years from present day — and exploring the story of an Inuit shaman who finds herself at the nexus point between her people and the first band of Vikings to set foot on North American soil.
April 18th, 2019. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Jordanna Max Brodsky | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Obituary:
Gene Wolfe died on Sunday, April 14. Wolfe was a master writer who is probably best known for THE BOOKS OF THE NEW SUN. Wolfe’s work dealt with identity, memory and mystery, often featuring a main character who didn’t realize that he (and it was usually a “he”) had only a small part to play in a much larger story. His prose is amazing, and he will be missed. Tor.com celebrates the life of this master storyteller.
Awards:
File 770 presents the long list for the Best Books in Translation award.
April 17th, 2019. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
Scott Westerfeld has long been one of the best YA authors going, with multiple stories well worth a read, including the UGLIES, LEVIATHAN, and MIDNIGHTERS series, all of which are top-notch. And his SUCCESSION sci-fi series, more adult in nature, is absolutely great. So a new title from him is big news, made even bigger when we learn it’s a return to his beloved UGLIES trilogy. Honestly, it’s hard to live up to that sort of expectation,
April 17th, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Scott Westerfeld | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Red Turtle by Michael Dudok De Wit
Have you ever felt completely hypnotised by a movie? That was how I felt watching The Red Turtle, a story of — quite simply — survival and love. From the moment it started from until the second the credits rolled, I was fixated on the images unfolding in front of me: a man that washes up on a deserted island, his explorations of the beach and interior, his miraculous meeting with a mysterious woman, and the life they lead together, utterly cut off from all civilization (if you’re wondering where a red turtle fits into all this,
April 17th, 2019. Rebecca Fisher | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
A Boy and His Dog at the end of the World by C.A. Fletcher
A Boy and His Dog at the end of the World (2019), by C.A. Fletcher (aka Charlie Fletcher) bears no small resemblance to Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars, which, it turns out, is not a bad thing. Both are quiet, elegiac stories set in a post-apocalyptic world and focused on a main character who sets out with his faithful dog on a journey that becomes less about finding what is sought and more about learning about oneself.
April 16th, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Charlie (C.A.) Fletcher | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Alta (2004), the second book in Mercedes Lackey’s DRAGON JOUSTERS quartet, starts where Joust left off. Vetch, formerly a slave and more recently a “dragon boy” in the land of his enemies, has escaped with the dragon he raised from an egg. They are now in Alta, the land of his birth, which has been occupied by Tia, the land he just escaped from.
Vetch (now called by his real name,
April 16th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Mercedes Lackey | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Our weekly exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few excellent stories, including two of the recently announced Hugo nominees, that we wanted you to know about.
If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho (2018, free to read online or download at Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog). 2019 Hugo award winner (novelette).
If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again, by Zen Cho, is a Hugo-nominated novelette about an imugi,
April 15th, 2019. Jana Nyman, Marion Deeds and Tadiana Jones | Suzanne Palmer, T. Kingfisher, Zen Cho | Hugo Award, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In the Land of Time: And Other Fantasy Tales by Lord Dunsany
In In the Land of Time: And Other Fantasy Tales (1986), literary critic and editor S.T. Joshi has compiled a large collection of Lord Dunsany’s short fiction that spans fifty years and is representative of his entire oeuvre. As someone who is not well-acquainted with the writings of Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, the 18th Baron of Dunsany (1878-1957), I found this collection to be both an excellent resource and an enjoyable read.
April 15th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Lord Dunsany | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien de Castell
Traitor’s Blade is the first installment in Sebastien de Castell’s GREATCOATS series and is an interesting blend of genres — like The Three Musketeers with classic fantasy. At the core it is about a young man whose heart is broken and who has found meaning in defending ideals that are greater than himself.
An oft-used, but nonetheless compelling storyline in fantasy is the abuse of power by the nobility. Whether it’s something as simple as overtaxing and overworking the lower classes or some of the more heinous examples where the Nobles rape,
April 15th, 2019. John Hulet, Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Sebastien De-Castell | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Plenty more fun books on the docket this week!
Bill: This week I read the quietly engaging A Boy and His Dog at the end of the World by C.A. Fletcher; Scott Westerfeld’s Imposters (actually read last week), a solid but more YA and less satisfying return to the world of Uglies; and I’m currently in the midst of Human Errors by Nathan H. Lents, a light but interesting look at all the design flaws in our bodies (though he has yet to get to the one that prevents me from eating all the ice cream I want.).
April 14th, 2019. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 1 comment |
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
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.