A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire
This is one of my favorite of Chris McGrath’s covers for the OCTOBER DAYE series, and it’s one of my favorite titles too, so it pains me to say that this isn’t one of my favorite books in the series. A Red-Rose Chain (2015) suffers from some pacing issues and didn’t quite knock my socks off like The Winter Long did.
The kingdom of Silences, analogous to mortal Portland, declares war on the Mists.
July 10th, 2019. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Seanan McGuire | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past by Sarah Parcak
Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past (2019), by Sarah Parcak, is an entertainingly informative mix of popular science, memoir, and even some fiction. Parcak does an excellent job of bringing the rarified field of remote sensing down to earth, in both literal and metaphorical fashion.
Remote sensing is a relatively new tool in science and, in particular, in archaeology. Parcak dates its use in the field from 1906, when a lieutenant of the Royal Engineer’s Balloon Section used a tethered balloon to take photos of Stonehenge and “a new world had been opened up from on high.” She traces the evolution of the science and engineering through both World Wars (her grandfather,
July 9th, 2019. Bill Capossere | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Bewitched and Betrothed by Juliet Blackwell
Anyone who’s been following Lily Ivory’s adventures as a witchy vintage dress shop owner who solves murders as a hobby has been looking forward to the tenth installment: Bewitched and Betrothed (2019).
As the title suggests, Lily is preparing for her wedding. The handfasting will be in a few days and Lily’s grandmother and her coven, as well as Lily’s mother, are in town. Of course, as readers have come to expect, nothing ever goes smoothly in Lily Ivory’s orbit.
July 9th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Juliet Blackwell | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
As Limited Wish (2019) begins, Nick Hayes, the 16-year-old math genius that we met in One Word Kill (you need to read it first) is being pursued by a pack of drunken Cambridge students bent on beating him up. It’s 1986 and Nick has just been enrolled at Cambridge, thanks to the notice of Professor Halligan, a brilliant mathematician who recognizes Nick’s potential. What Prof Halligan doesn’t know is that Nick has to invent time travel so that when he’s older he can come visit his teenage self in the late 1980s and,
July 8th, 2019. Kat Hooper and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Mark Lawrence | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Magic Bed-Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons by Mary Norton
I was a child when I first saw Disney’s 1971 movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks and have fond memories of it. So when I found out that the book that inspired the movie, Mary Norton’s The Magic Bed-Knob (1943), was nominated this year for a 1944 Retro Hugo award, I was excited to read it. It’s charming and old-fashioned … but not everything I had hoped for. Also, it’s not much like the Disney movie,
July 8th, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3 | Mary Norton | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
A belated happy Independence Day to our American readers, and a great collection of summer reads!
Kat: Now that my freshmen are getting the hang of things, I was able to consume a few books this week: Bewitched and Betrothed is the newest book in Juliet Blackwell’s WITCHCRAFT MYSTERIES. These are so good in audio format. In The Shadow of Spindrift House was a creepy little Lovecraftian work by Mira Grant. Also Lovecraftian was The Labyrinth Index,
July 7th, 2019. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 4 comments |
The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire’s OCTOBER DAYE series is one that can be divided into two types of books: ones that develop the larger “metaplot,” and ones that deal with more episodic concerns (though the events of the episodic books tend to have important consequences later in the series).
The Winter Long (2014) is a metaplot book, and it’s a doozy.
Toby is ready to crash after the new Queen’s winter solstice party, when the doorbell rings.
July 5th, 2019. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Seanan McGuire | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Happy Independence day to our American readers! We hope you’re taking the day off and getting some reading done.
It’s the first Thursday of the month. You know what that means, ’cause we do this on the first Thursday of every month! Time to report!
What is the best book you read in June 2019 and why did you love it? It doesn’t have to be a newly published book, or even SFF. We just want to share some great reading material. Feel free to post a full review of the book here,
July 4th, 2019. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 20 comments |
Awards:
The Locus Awards were announced. Mary Robinette Kowal won for Best Science Fiction Novel with The Calculating Stars, Paul Tremblay for Best Horror with The Cabin at the End of the World, and Naomi Novik won Best Fantasy Novel for Spinning Silver.
Annalee Newitz won the Theodore Sturgeon award for her short story “When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis.”
Sam J. Miller won the Campbell Award for best novel with Blackfish City.
July 3rd, 2019. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, World Wide Wednesday | 11 comments |
I’ve been reading Melanie Rawn’s DRAGON PRINCE and DRAGON STAR trilogies because the audio versions of this late 1980s / early 1990s fantasy epic are just now being released in audio format and Tantor Audio has sent me review copies. Stronghold (1990) is the first book in the DRAGON STAR trilogy but it’s really just book four of the DRAGON PRINCE trilogy. I have no idea why the epic was divided into two trilogies since you must read DRAGON PRINCE if you hope to have any clue about what’s going on in DRAGON STAR.
July 3rd, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Melanie Rawn | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 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.