It struck me on reading this YA novel that there’s a definite hierarchy to the stories that are told within the STAR WARS universe. Obviously the movies are the most important: they are seen by the most people, and encompass the most important events in the overarching space epic. They’re “tent-poles” so to speak.
In second place are the animated television shows such as The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels which build on the canon that’s laid out in the movies,
December 9th, 2019. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | E.K. Johnston | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Kat: Three books this week. Robin McKinley’s The Outlaws of Sherwood is a pleasant take on the Robin Hood legend. I like what she did with Maid Marion. That was my first McKinley novel. I re-read Catherine Asaro’s Undercity so I’d be prepared for the sequel, The Bronze Skies, which I’ll pick up next. I read one horror story: A Warning by Anonymous (a senior Trump official). There wasn’t much that was totally new,
December 8th, 2019. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |
Gabriella White, a brilliant neurologist and scientist who’s searching for a cure to Alzheimer’s, is at the very end of the funding for her research project. In her frustration, she recklessly pushes the power for her lab equipment, a neural stimulation system, to the maximum … and accidentally finds herself in her husband Paul’s body in their nearby house, holding their beloved 11-month-old daughter, who they call Kat or Kitten. Shocked, Gabby drops Kat back into her crib and runs back to the lab, where she finds her own body in a comatose state.
December 6th, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Charles Soule | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch
Peter Grant, our favourite semi-competent detective cum wizard-in-training, returns in Lies Sleeping (2018), the seventh book in Ben Aaronovitch’s RIVERS OF LONDON series. The Faceless Man has been unmasked and is on the run, and it is now up to Peter and the inimitable Detective Chief Inspector Nightingale (slash last officially sanctioned English Melvin the Wizard) to apprehend him.
(Fair warning: some spoilers for preceding books will follow.)
London is once more under threat and there can only be one man behind it.
December 6th, 2019. Ray McKenzie and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Ben Aaronovitch | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
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 November 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, or a link to the review on your blog, or just write a few sentences about why you thought it was awesome.
December 5th, 2019. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 17 comments |
Strange Devices of the Sun and Moon by Lisa Goldstein
Alice Wood, a recently widowed middle-aged woman, is continuing her husband’s bookselling business in his stall in the courtyard of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Though Alice is liked by the other vendors in the courtyard, most think that, as a woman, she’s not equipped to run a business by herself. One of her competitors, a man named George, insists that she should sell her stall to him, or at least that she should marry him and let him run their combined businesses. Everyone knows that,
December 5th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Lisa Goldstein | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
An interesting word for Wednesday is horologium (hor-oh-LOGE-ee-yum) a noun meaning a time-keeping apparatus like a clock, sundial, etc, or a structure that supports a time-keeping piece.
Giveaway:
One commenter will get a copy of Annalee Newitz’s The Future of Another Timeline.
Conventions:
Last week I spent three days at AtomaCon in Charleston, South Carolina. This was a small convention, which I enjoy. I had a wonderful time! I’m going to plug some people. I tried a VR experience for the first time (undersea images) and I am a convert.
December 4th, 2019. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, World Wide Wednesday | 7 comments |
Children of the Night by Mercedes Lackey
Children of the Night (1990) is the second novel in Mercedes Lackey’s DIANA TREGARDE trilogy, following Burning Water. Each of the novels can stand alone, so you don’t need to read Burning Water first. In fact, it could be argued that this one is a better starting place because it’s set earlier in Diana’s life and we learn more about her in this novel.
December 4th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Mercedes Lackey | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
SHORTS: Our column exploring free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve recently read that we wanted you to know about.
“Head of a Snake, Tail of a Dragon” by Zen Cho (2018, free on the author’s website)
This short story is a delightful sequel to Zen Cho’s Hugo award-winning novelette, “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again.” And both are free online, so win-win!
Jin-Dae is an imugi, a magical serpent that can — if it learns and grows in the right way — turn into a dragon.
December 3rd, 2019. Tadiana Jones, Marion Deeds and Kat Hooper | Arthur Machen, Cat Rambo, Ilona Andrews, John Scalzi, Zen Cho | Audio, Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer
Jeff VanderMeer has been on a hell of a roll lately. His SOUTHERN REACH trilogy is on my personal list of best series in the past quarter-century, Borne (I argued) was both an imperfect book and a great one, and now his newest, Dead Astronauts — set in the same multi-verse of Borne — is quite possibly my favorite book by him yet.
That said,
December 3rd, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Jeff VanderMeer | SFF Reviews | no comments |
It's hardly a private conversation, Becky. You're welcome to add your 2 cents anytime!
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…