Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: December 2019

The Quantum Garden: A worthy sequel

The Quantum Garden by Derek Künsken

The Quantum Garden (2019) is the second installment of Derek Künsken’s QUANTUM EVOLUTION series, following the adventures of conman Belisarius Arjona, one of a few thousands of “Homo quantus” — a bio-engineered species able to deal with floods of data, strange math, and quantum effects. The first book in the series, The Quantum Magician, saw Belisarius gather a crew of misfits in order to help an oppressed “client culture” smuggle a fleet of uniquely advanced spaceships through a wormhole so as to gain their independence from the powerful Congregate.

December 31st, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Derek Kunsken | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Lent: Big twist makes for a powerful exploration of deep themes

Lent by Jo Walton

Jo Walton writes truly thoughtful books, as anyone who has read her THESSALY TRILOGY (The Just City, The Philosopher Kings, Necessity) knows. She’s also, those fans also know, a big fan of Renaissance Italy, particularly Florence. So it comes as no surprise to find this the setting for her newest novel, Lent (2019), which wrestles in the same thought-provoking manner major issues,

Dragonfly: Adventure-filled fantasy and romance for younger readers

Dragonfly by Julia Golding

A political marriage has been arranged between 16-year-old Princess Taoshira (Tashi) of the Blue Crescent Islands and 18-year-old Prince Ramil (Ram) of the country of Gerfal. They’re separated by a few hundred miles, a couple of other countries in between theirs, and a world of cultural differences. Both Tashi and Ram are completely appalled by the idea of the match, and it doesn’t get any better when they meet up, as Tashi’s government sends her to Gerfal to meet and wed Ram. But their countries need an alliance to fight against an aggressive and brutal warlord,

Sunday Status Update: December 29, 2019

Jana: This week, with much gratitude to the Santaman, I received and have been leafing through Unicorns, Dragons, and More Fantasy Amigurumi, collating several fantasy-creature patterns from contributors to amigurumipatterns.net, and Star Wars Crochet, by Lucy Collin, which promises to teach me how to make a teeny Master Yoda and some weird teenagers no one’s ever heard of (a moisture farmer and a space princess?? I dunno).

Bill: This week thanks to being on vacation I read:
Lent by Jo Walton
Exhalation by Ted Chiang
The Quantum Garden by Derek Künsken
Radicalized by Cory Doctorow
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E.

December 29th, 2019. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |

Our favorite books of 2019

Here are our favorite books published in 2019. Hover over the cover to see who recommends each book. Click on the cover to read our review.

Please keep in mind that we did not read every SFF book published this year, so we know we’ve missed some good ones! Please add your comments — we’d love to hear your opinions about our list and to know which were YOUR favorite books of 2019. What did we miss? One commenter chooses a book from our stacks.

ADULT SFF

MIDDLE GRADE / YOUNG ADULT SFF

NON-FICTION

December 26th, 2019. FanLit | Best of the Year | 23 comments |

WWWednesday: December 25, 2019

A joyous Hanukkah and a Merry Christmas to those who observe.

To those of you who don’t, have a very good week!

I’m posting a handful of videos. Four are musical and one is of fluffy arctic foxes.

The column will be on hiatus next week (January 1) but I will be back on January 8.

Happy New Year!

First up: Alison Krauss and Yo Yo Ma play The Wexford Carol.

Julie Geller performs a contemporary version of the classic Hanukkah hymn Al Hanisim.

December 25th, 2019. Marion Deeds | SFF Reviews, World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

The Labyrinth’s Archivist: A hero with a physical disability must prove herself

The Labyrinth’s Archivist by Day Al-Mohamed

Before I review The Labyrinth’s Archivist (2019), some disclosure. The author, Day Al-Mohamed, and I share a small press publisher, Falstaff Books, and we shared an editor. The Labyrinth’s Archivist shares a general theme with my novella and both are part of the press’s BROKEN CITIES line. I haven’t met Al-Mohamed and I get no compensation for reviewing the book. I bought the book on my own. If I hadn’t enjoyed it,

The Body: A Guide for Occupants: An entertainingly fact-filled tour

The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson’s The Body: A Guide for Occupants (2019), is a light, in both tone and substance, tour of the human body. Filled with intriguing details and replete with Bryson’s typical ease of style, it makes for a fluid, fun, and often informative read even if it leaves one desirous of a bit more depth and cohesion.

Bryson begins with a general overview of “How to Build a Human,” noting how our DNA, if gathered into a single strand,

December 20th, 2019. Bill Capossere | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Thoughtful Thursday: What’s the best book you read in 2019?

2019 is almost over! We hope you’ve had a wonderful reading year and that our work here at FanLit helped you achieve that.

Now we want to know: What is the best book you read in 2019?

It doesn’t have to be a book that was published in 2019. Just read in 2019. It doesn’t even have to be speculative fiction.

Feel free to post a full review of the book here, or a link to the review on your blog, or just write a few sentences about why you thought it was awesome.

December 19th, 2019. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 22 comments |

Magic for Liars: A fresh spin on the “magical school” trope

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

I recently enjoyed Sarah Gailey’s short story “STET,” on Tadiana’s recommendation, and decided I needed to check out more of Gailey’s work. When I saw their latest novel, Magic for Liars (2019), gleaming bright red at me from the library shelf, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Magic school meets detective thriller? Right up my alley, as I like both of those things. It was like asking me if I wanted vanilla and chocolate ice cream.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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