Knight (2019) is the second book in Timothy Zahn’s SYBIL’S WAR series. You need to read the first book, Pawn, before starting Knight. However, I really don’t recommend either one of these books.
When we left Nicole, Bungie, and Sam in the last book, Nicole had been named Protector of the Fyrantha. Why anyone would want Nicole in charge of that ship is anyone’s guess.
September 30th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 1.5 | Timothy Zahn | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Radio Beasts by Ralph Milne Farley
At the tail end of my recent review of Ralph Milne Farley’s first novel, The Radio Man (later retitled An Earthman on Venus), I mentioned that I had so enjoyed this opening salvo in what soon turned out to be a series that I certainly wouldn’t have minded reading the next entries … if I could only lay my hands on some copies of these currently out-of-print books. Coming to my rescue was a reader and friend of this FanLit website,
September 30th, 2019. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Ralph Milne Farley | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Jana: This week I continued reading Sam J. Miller’s YA novel Destroy All Monsters; I’m enjoying the story, but the dueling first-person narrators sound exactly the same, which sometimes makes it tough to sort out what’s happening to whom. I read Theodora Goss’ The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl, the third-and-final instalment (as far as I understand things!) in her EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF THE ATHENA CLUB trilogy, and am happy to report significant improvements since book 2. I’ve been exploring some speculative fiction crafty-nerd fun,
September 29th, 2019. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 1 comment |
Star Wars: Kanan Vol. 1: The Last Padawan by Greg Weisman
The secret backstory of Kanan Jarrus, one of the main characters in the animated television show Star Wars Rebels, was ripe for comic book expansion. As a former Jedi Padawan who was only a teenager when the rest of the Jedi Order was wiped out, his past provides plenty of scope for exciting and bittersweet stories. After all, as a survivor of the purge, he was one of the lucky ones.
During an otherwise straightforward supply-run to Lothal,
September 28th, 2019. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Comics, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin
A single spaceman arrives on Earth (which he calls “Tellus,” a Latin word similar to Terra) on an important mission from a far-off planet that was colonized by a group of rich white men who left Earth centuries ago. The spaceman, as well as the collective AI that was implanted in his brain and constantly speaks to him in his mind, expected to find a world completely barren of life, decimated by climate change and toxic pollution. What they actually find is far different, and both the man and his chatty AI have huge problems adjusting to this new reality.
September 27th, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | N.K. Jemisin | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
City of Ghosts (2018) by V.E. Schwab is a Middle Grade book that, well, reads like a Middle Grade book.
In other words, it’s entertaining and engaging enough for that age group, but doesn’t have the depth or complexity in plot or characters to expand beyond that audience, which I’m clearly well, well outside of.
Ever since she almost drowned, young Cassidy Blake has been able to see ghosts, to “pull aside the veil” and step for a brief time into their world.
September 27th, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Victoria (V.E.) Schwab | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Poisoned Blade by Kate Elliott
Warning: may contain mild spoilers for the previous book, Court of Fives
In Poisoned Blade, the second novel in her COURT OF FIVES trilogy, Kate Elliott builds on the strengths of Court of Fives and expands upon it, weaving tangled webs of intrigue, deceit, and impressively multi-layered political schemes. Anyone who thinks Young Adult fiction can’t successfully handle themes like a culture’s endurance in defiance of colonialism,
September 27th, 2019. Jana Nyman and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Kate Elliott | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Time for another “Rename This Horrible Cover” contest!
Children of the Lens is the last novel in E.E. “Doc” Smith‘s LENSMAN series which, in general, Sandy loves.
All of the covers are pretty bad, though.
We feel like this book needs a new title that fits the cover art better. Can you suggest one?
The creator of the title we like best wins a book from our stacks.
Got a suggestion for a horrible cover that needs renaming?
September 26th, 2019. FanLit | E.E. "Doc" Smith | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 14 comments |
Apparently I’ve been living under a rock or, perhaps, in an isolated cottage in a pine forest, since I had never heard of Wayward Pines — the town, the trilogy of novels by Blake Crouch, or the Fox TV series based on these novels — before I picked up Pines (2012). In this case, being oblivious was a great thing, since the mystery wasn’t spoiled. I think it would be possible to enjoy reading Pines already knowing what the big secret is,
September 26th, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Blake Crouch | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Deaths and Memorials:
Aaron Eisenberg, who played Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, died last week at the age of fifty.
Books and Writing:
Heather Demetrios wrote an article last week that got a lot of attention. Taking a “learn from my mistakes” approach, Demetrios outlined how she blew through a couple of big advances without doing enough planning, leaving her nearly broke and scrambling when her books didn’t earn out.
September 25th, 2019. Marion Deeds | SFF Reviews, World Wide Wednesday | 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.