Cons:
SpikeCon, scheduled for July 4-7, 2019, will be held in Utah. This year’s convention will be a blend of NASFIC and WesterCon. NASFIC is the North American convention that is held in any years that WorldCon is not held in the USA.
Awards:
The finalists for the Shirley Jackson Awards have been announced.
I did not know there was a Woman’s Award, but there is, and Madeline Miller’s Circe made the finalist list, along with Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss.
May 8th, 2019. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 6 comments |
Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword by Henry Lien
Peasprout Chen and her little brother Cricket have been chosen by the dowager empress to represent their province at the Pearl Famous Academy of Skate and Sword in the famously beautiful city of Pearl. In exchange, the mayor of Pearl has sent two of his children to Shin, the poor rural area where Peasprout and Cricket grew up.
The Chen siblings were chosen because Peasprout is the best wu liu competitor in her entire province. She’s a celebrity there.
May 8th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Henry Lien | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Other Words for Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin
Other Words for Smoke (2019) is not a traditional coming-of-age story. Its composite parts include a magical house, a witch, her apprentice, their talking cat and an evil owl fed on bones that materialises through the walls. And yet, at its heart, the tale is universal: it explores the pain of adolescence, unrequited love and the turmoil of a family falling apart.
The story opens with twins Mae and Rossa huddled outside the wreckage of a burnt house.
May 8th, 2019. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 4 | Sarah Maria Griffin | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The War Within by Stephen R. Donaldson
I was sorely disappointed in Seventh Decimate, the first book in Stephen R. Donaldson‘s new series, THE GREAT GOD’S WAR. Luckily, the second book, The War Within (2019), shows improvement, but it’s a pretty low bar and so I can’t say it’s enough to convince me the series is worth starting (at least at this point).
(Here is your warning that this review will contain spoilers for book one).
May 8th, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2 | Stephen R. Donaldson | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Seanan McGuire brings together horror, alchemy, and fantasy in Middlegame (2019), a novel about ambition, power, creation, family, genius, and imagination. And because it’s a McGuire novel, there are also plenty of things that go bump in both the day and the night, a terrifying amount of corn, a refutation of pastoral/nostalgic Americana as viewed through the lens of classic children’s literature, and a battle-scarred old tomcat.
James Reed and his assistant Leigh Barrow ― a pair of rebel alchemists of the mad scientist type ― have been doing human experimentation for years,
May 7th, 2019. Jana Nyman and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4.5 | Seanan McGuire | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Seventh Decimate by Stephen R. Donaldson
Seventh Decimate (2017) is the first book of Stephen R. Donaldson’s newest series, THE GREAT GOD’S WAR. The story centers on two nations that have been locked for generations in devastating warfare, each having their own version of how the war began. Amika has all the advantages: size, money, population, trading partners, more wielders of magical forces (“decimates”), against the smaller, land-locked, more beleaguered Belleger.
The story, though,
May 7th, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 1.5 | Stephen R. Donaldson | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Zen Cho continues her SORCERER ROYAL series with The True Queen (2019), the first follow-up to Sorcerer to the Crown. Technically, The True Queen could be read as a stand-alone or as an introduction to the series, and that was the spirit in which I read it, though I often found myself wishing I had read this book second rather than first; the series takes place in a definite chronological order,
May 6th, 2019. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Zen Cho | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
In Dread Nation (2018), the American civil war was interrupted when the fallen soldiers on both sides rose again to eat their friends and foes alike. In short: things were a bit of a mess. Our protagonist, Jane, was born two days after the first shambler (the term for zombies in this story) rose on the battlefields. Dread Nation is about her life in this new world.
When I picked up Dread Nation it did cross my mind that zombie stories were a bit of a trend a couple of years ago.
May 6th, 2019. Skye Walker´s rating: 4 | Justina Ireland | Locus Award, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone!
Bill: This week I read The Seventh Decimate and The War Within by Stephen R. Donaldson, with book one sorely disappointing and book two a bit better; the informative if a bit flat The American Museum of Natural History and How it Got That Way by Colin Davey; and an entertaining history/memoir of the family road trip by Richard Ratay entitled appropriately enough Don’t Make Me Pull Over. In audio The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years by Robert M.
May 5th, 2019. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 6 comments |
7 Against Chaos by Harlan Ellison
7 Against Chaos by Harlan Ellison tells the tale of the robed man who gathers six others to join him in his attempt to save the Earth. The robed man, Roark, has been guided by near-sentient computers created by other near-sentient computers: They tell him that in order to save the earth in the twenty-second century, he will need the complete team of seven gathered together. Once the team is complete, they go back in time in order to confront their nemesis,
May 4th, 2019. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4 | Harlan Ellison | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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.