The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire
After two “monster of the week” episodes, The Brightest Fell (2017) brings us back to the secrets that were revealed in The Winter Long, surrounding Amandine, Simon, Eira Rosynhwyr — and Toby’s long-lost sister, August. But first, Seanan McGuire draws us in, as she did in Once Broken Faith, with a heartwarming scene of comic relief. This time, it’s Toby’s bachelorette party. The. Luideag.
July 19th, 2019. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Seanan McGuire | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The 2019 Hugo Awards will be presented at Worldcon 77 in Dublin, Ireland, on August 18. The Hugo Award finalists are chosen by readers who are voting members of Worldcon. This week we’ll talk about the novels and novellas. We discussed other categories in previous columns.
Click the title links below to read our reviews and on the author links to visit our page for the author. Most of these works are, not surprisingly, the same ones nominated for the Nebula Awards.
Who do you think will win the Hugo Award in these categories?
July 18th, 2019. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 13 comments |
The finale to Yoon Ha Lee’s MACHINERIES OF EMPIRE trilogy, Hugo-nominated Revenant Gun (2018) tells the story of what remains of the Hexarchate ten years after Kel Cheris/Jedao threw it headfirst into civil war. On one side of the war, the Protectorate attempts to reunite the former Hexarchate and restore its violent calendrical (magic) system. On the other side of the war is the Compact, Cheris’s newborn state founded on a completely different calendrical system that simultaneously ends the gory human sacrifices of the Hexarchate and grants its subjects a higher level of individual choice and control over the system’s calendrical effects.
July 18th, 2019. Kevin Wei´s rating: 4.5 | Yoon Ha Lee | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Ophiuchi Hotline by John Varley
Dr. Lilo Alexandr-Calypso, a brilliant geneticist who lives on the moon, has broken the law by fiddling with the human genome. Just as she’s about to be executed, she is saved by a group of vigilantes who want to use her skills to help them free the Earth from the alien invaders who’ve taken over and kicked the humans off.
Lilo doesn’t want to serve anyone, but their leader, a former president of Earth, has captured a clone of her and says that either she or the clone will be executed for Lilo’s crime.
July 18th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | John Varley | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
I officially declare today Kat Hooper Day.
Awards:
The Shirley Jackson Awards were announced at ReaderCon, July 14. (Terry was in the audience for this!) Little Eve, by Catriona Ward, won for Best Horror Novel.
Disclaimer:
This will be another column that will not have a lot of links, because I am going to report out on ReaderCon30, held in Quincy, Massachusetts from July 11 through July 14, 2019.
Giveaway:
One commenter chosen at random will get a hardback copy of Richard Kadrey’s newest book,
July 17th, 2019. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, World Wide Wednesday | 24 comments |
The Last Tsar’s Dragons by Jane Yolen & Adam Stemple
The Last Tsar’s Dragons (2019) is frustrating, both as a reading exercise and in retrospect, when I think about how universally lauded Jane Yolen is and that Adam Stemple, her son, is a well-regarded author in his own right. So take a master storyteller and her progeny, begin with the political tar pit that was the Russian court in the last days of the Romanovs, and add revolutionaries and literal fire-breathing dragons into the mix…
What should,
July 17th, 2019. Jana Nyman´s rating: 2.5 | Adam Stemple, Jane Yolen | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Saga (Vol. 9) by Brian K. Vaughan (writer) & Fiona Staples (artist)
It’s been nine months since I read Vol 8 of Saga, which is something special. It’s the only comic series that I follow, and the characters are as vivid, complicated, lovable, despicable, cruel, and conflicted as any I know. This is a space opera that tackles the most difficult and relevant topics of our own society, doesn’t hesitate to shock readers, flip the script, and most frightening of all, doesn’t hold back from killing off major characters that we are deeply invested in.
July 17th, 2019. Stuart Starosta and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Brian K. Vaughan | Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
We welcome a new guest reviewer: Michaela Hausmann.
The Sundering Flood by William Morris
The Sundering Flood (1897) is the last fantasy romance by William Morris. Unfinished during his lifetime, the romance was published posthumously by his daughter May Morris. It relates the trials and tribulations of the young hero Osberne and his female friend and future lover Elfhild. Although both are separated from each other by an impassable river (the eponymous Sundering Flood), they can communicate with each other across the water and form a close bond.
July 16th, 2019. Michaela Hausmann´s rating: 4 | William Morris | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Saga (Vol 8) by Brian K Vaughan (writer) & Fiona Staples (artist)
It’s been six months since I read Vol 7 of SAGA, and after moving to London last summer we recently popped into Forbidden Planet in Soho, and that store is an absolute treasure trove of SF comics, books, and other fan goodies. There are so many enticing comics on offer there, you could spend your entire salary in one wild shopping spree. When I saw Vol 8 of SAGA with Wild West cover art among the new releases,
July 16th, 2019. Stuart Starosta and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Brian K. Vaughan | Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Dragon Token by Melanie Rawn
I tried and failed to finish The Dragon Token, the second book in Melanie Rawn’s DRAGON PRINCE trilogy (really the fifth book in her DRAGON STAR trilogy). These novels are currently being released in very nice audio formats by Tantor Audio who has generously sent them to me for reviews. I feel bad for quitting, because these are such excellent audio productions narrated by Christa Lewis, but I am just so bored with them and each book is quite long.
July 15th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 1 | Melanie Rawn | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 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.